Finding a way
by G0nna6oF4rK1D
Summary: What if Clementine hadn't met up with Christa and Omid? After losing her guardian the young girl struggles to survive, going through life-changing situations, and meeting a new best friend. She tries to find a way to make it, in a world gone cold. My greatest thanks go to WalkingDeadRox for giving me permission to use their characterization of Danielle. Implied rape, abuse.
1. Chapter 1

She had barely taken her first steps out of the jewelry store when she was overcome with emotion. She started weeping, quiet as she could, as not to draw any unwanted attention.

She was trying to keep a good pace, but it wasn't long before her vision became blurred by her blinding tears.

She stumbled slightly, quickly regaining her footing. She couldn't cry. Not right now.

Her lower lip trembling, she took the back of her hand and brushed away tears that were trailing down her cheeks.

She blinked hard, forcing away the remaining teardrops that threatened to spill over her lower lids, and clenched her jaw tightly. Clementine anxiously chewed her bottom lip and focused her gaze to the ground as she trailed sluggishly onward.

Eventually, she decided she should take a short break, not knowing what else to do.

She took a seat on a log, frantically looking around, before lowering her gaze back to the ground.

She noticed some gun shells on the ground and carefully scooped them up to observe when suddenly, something caught her attention.

The small child whimpered as she saw two people on the hill. She couldn't help her body from trembling. She opened her mouth to call to them, but no sound came out.

She wondered if it was Christa and Omid. Maybe Kenny, or Molly. Or someone else...someone bad. Possibly someone who wanted to harm her.

A lump formed in her throat at the thought. She swallowed, feeling her heart swell at the remembrance of the events that had just occurred. Flashbacks playing in her mind like a movie and she wanted nothing more to hit the stop button.

"Don't cry." She muttered. "Don't c-cry."

As she was occupied with trying to keep herself under control, she didn't notice the people moving closer.

Not until a yell reach her ears. "Hey!"

Clementine froze at the distant shout. She couldn't make out who it belonged to.

She narrowed her eyes, but she couldn't clearly see who the two figures were. She was certain about one thing though; they were armed. Who wasn't nowadays?

She didn't know what to do. She was taking a big risk, stay or go.

After a moment of indecisiveness, Clementine made up her mind, and without second thought, she darted off in the opposite direction.

* * *

Thinking she was in the clear, Clementine stopped to catch her breath for a bit. She had no idea who those people were. She would be better off alone. She could take care of herself. She knew how to protect herself. Lee taught her how to shoot a gun. That was all she needed.

She felt tears prick her eyes at the thought of her recently fallen guardian. She quickly wiped them away. She couldn't cry. Not when it was her own fault Lee was gone.

She was exhausted, she just wanted to snuggle with Lee, but she knew she couldn't so that. No anymore, not ever again.

She finally gives in the battle she was clearly losing. Tears made their way down her little cheeks. She cried. She cried more than she ever cried in her life. More than when her she had fallen from her tree house and hurt her arm, more than when she had lost her favorite stuffed animal. She cried for all her lost, because she knew she had nothing left.

* * *

The weather was cold, it was getting dark fast, and she was even more tired than before.

She trudged towards an undecided location. She didn't know where she was going, all she knew was she had to find some kind of shelter. Regardless of if she had any idea of where to go or what to do or not, her feet continued to move own their own accord.

It wasn't until the sound of a bird calling, yanked her out of her thoughts, causing the girl to look up and realized that she had no idea where she was.

Somehow, she managed to stumble into the woods and the very thought of being alone in such a scared place, terrified her more.

There was no point in stopping now, she had made it this far, hopefully she'd find something useful.

As her little feet carried her upon what seemed to be an endless path in the woods, the wind started to pick up, and she could feel a gust of cold her blow right through her hooded sweater.

With a shiver, she tugged on her sleeves before wrapping her arms around her frail body as a source of protection.

It wasn't much help as the cold continued to penetrate through her clothing.

She tried to fight her tears of frustration.

She was broken. She wanted to scream. She wanted to break down and cry.

She could still feel the blood on her clothes, her hands, her skin, her face. She felt filthy.

She reached up to pull her hood over her head as another blast of cold air hit her face. Her tiny palms briefly came in contact with her treasured hat. She froze, brushing her fingers over the hat. She felt her little heart clench. It was still wet...with Lee's blood.

She blamed herself for what happened. She regretted ever talking to that stranger. How could she have been so stupid to believe him.

She bit her lip as anger ran through her body.

She was inwardly berating her nine-year-old self. She knew she was thinking mean thoughts about her own self. Her mother and father would always tell her not to talk bad about anyone, herself included, but she couldn't help it.

She was such a screw-up. And now...everyone was gone. She had no one left.

"Stop it." She said to herself.

She couldn't cry again. Not now. She had to be a big girl. She had to grow up or she would surely die out there.

"You're not a baby." She huffed bitterly, sniffling back the sobs and cries that desperately longed to be released.

The girl kept up how tiresome trot, until the pain in her feet became too much to handle. At that point she decided to finally call in a night.

Huddled under an embankment, she tried her best to keep warm in her little hoodie. She had made an attempt to start a fire, but failed at the task and eventually gave up, hoping that maybe she's find a coat tomorrow. She would definitely need warmer clothes.

She sighed... If only Lee were there to show her how to build the fire.

She quickly shook that thought away and thought about her plan.

She needed a plan, Lee said it was always good to have one.

After a bit of thinking, she decided that first thing in the morning she'd do some backtracking towards the train-tracks.

* * *

Clementine had hoped that if she fell asleep she would wake up to find everything had just been an awful dream. However, that wasn't the case. In fact, sleep never came to the child, for every-time she closed her eyes she was haunted by painful memories and pictures. She couldn't stop seeing them, her parents, Lee's ill looking form, his face right before she shot him. She shuddered at the thought.

The girl tossed and turned all night. She'd force her eyes closed until she could no longer bare it, but nothing helped.

And before she knew it, morning had come.

She waited a while, unsure why... Maybe she was hoping someone would find her, save her, but that was just a pipe-dream. Besides, she was better off alone.

Finally, she forced herself to her feet, keeping her emotions in check. She felt her stomach growl painfully. She wondered when the last time was that she had had a meal. She couldn't remember.

She needed to find some food. She wouldn't die out her without a fight. She owed it to Lee to keep going.

* * *

She had no idea how long she had been walking, but it felt like a long time. She felt as if she had been walking for days, when in reality it had only been a few hours.

She was exhausted, and sleep deprived. She needed to take a break, and she needed some food.

The young girl wanted to pretend that she could make it, but to be honest she had no idea how to survive. Besides what Lee had taught her, she didn't know how she was going to take care of herself. She was a pretty sheltered kid, so she had to force herself to adapt to being outside all the time. At the motor inn it had helped that there were other people there with her, but now she was all alone.

Still, she couldn't give up. She had to keep going.

Just as she thought she was about to collapse from exhaustion she noticed something in the distance. She squinted her eyes feeling a glee of hope. The train. It was the train!

She hoped that she wasn't hallucinating. What she saw just had to be real.

Without hesitation, she started sprint closer toward it before stopping dead in her tracks. There were walkers. So many walkers. Her little face paled. She was frozen. She was starting to panic.

She hadn't thought of a backup plan. She looked around, maybe there was another way out of Savannah.

There had to be. If there wasn't there'd be no need for cars, right?

While being lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed the walkers that had taken interest in her and were now coming her way.

She jumped in surprise as she felt a hand grab her arm. She tried to pull away as the rotting corpse attempted to make her it's next victim.

"Let me go!" She squeaked, her heart was pounding a mile a minute. She continued to pull against the walker as hard as she could. It wasn't working.

Finally, she dropped herself to the ground. Its hold was still tight on her as she struggled about. She wrapped her arms and legs around one of the walker's legs as the monster continued to try to pull her, keeping herself from being moved.

The child then leaned back, causing the walker to fall. She quickly rolled away, looking frantically for a weapon. A screwdriver suddenly caught her eyes. She thanked God for that miracle, and quickly scampered to grab it.

As the walker tried to stand and approached her she moved to her feet and used the screwdriver to stab it in the head.

Before she even had the chance to catch her breath, however she was suddenly grabbed from behind. She dropped the screwdriver and shock. The girl quickly struggled in the hold, before instinctively reaching for her gun. She pointed it behind her and shoot the walker in the head without even looking.

Once she was free, she took a moment to shake her head, the sound of the gun still ringing in her ears.

She took a deep breath, realizing that the gunshot a drawn the attention of several more walkers.

Heart racing, she grabbed the screwdriver from the ground and started running in the direction of the woods.

She tried to ignore the fact that there were walkers quickly gaining on her as she dashed ahead. Her eyes starred to blur with tears, but she quickly blinked them away to clear her sight. She held her gun tight, deciding she might as well fight. She turned to face the walkers, stopping her running, she raised her gun and took aim.

There were five of them. With a deep breath she pulled the trigger.

Her first shot completely missed. She swallowed nervously and raised her gun once more. Trying to be more accurate with her aiming, she allowed the walkers to move a bit closer before pulling the trigger again.

The shot hit a target and one of the walkers fell to the ground. She waited to see if it would get back up, it didn't.

Four more.

She kept her finger over the trigger, trying to keep calm.

 _One._

She shot again, hands trembling. She couldn't stop her body from shaking.

 _Two._

And again. Adrenaline was rushing through the nine-year-old as she saw the third corpse drop.

 _Three._

She pulled the trigger once more, hitting the last walker.

 _Four._

As it fell to the ground unmoving, she placed her hands on her knees, stopping to catch her breath.

She took a moment to think about how proud Lee would have been of her. She had just killed six walkers on her own. She wondered what he would say.

The thought of Lee made her sad, and all sense of pride faded away.

She quickly pulled herself out of her thoughts, knowing she should keep moving.

She just hoped the area ahead would be safe.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Thank you all for the reviews. I appreciate that people are taking the time to read this story.**_

* * *

All was fine, until the sun had begun to dip into the sky. At that point, Clementine started feeling a bit uneasy. She wasn't comfortable walking through the woods in the dark. Not to mention she was in an unfamiliar territory and she was super worried about getting lost.

Clementine found herself jumping at every little sound. The woods always intimidated her during the day, but at night it was a complete nightmare.

She was completely lost and had no idea what to do. She stood there a while wonder where she was, but it was making it worse. The longer she stood there, the more confused she became and the more confused she got, the more scared it made her.

She finally picked a random direction and started walking the trail.

She tried to think happy thoughts, but that was more of a struggle then it ever had been for the little girl.

The child wrapped her arms around herself and continued her walk forward.

She was in desperate need of some sleep. She didn't know how much longer she could continue walking. She let out a yawn, while rubbing sleep from her eyes.

Every noise she heard was starting to make her paranoid. She quickly looked around, she didn't see anything. She tried to reassure herself that she was fine. That the noises were nothing more than her mind playing tricks on her.

She tried to convince herself that she was overreacting, but it was hard when she was scared. Her fear was playing with her head. She kept on thinking about what ifs.

She would hold her breath every time she heard a rustling of leaves or a croak from a frog. She felt her heart pounding in her chest, like she had been running.

She tried to relax, but her body stayed tensed up. She was on red alert right then.

No matter how far she walked the area looked the same. Trees with moss, pinecones and grass. Her head was starting to spin. She felt like she was going in circles, although she had been certain that she wasn't. Her gut told her to just keep going and she'd make it out eventually. And she trusts her instincts, having nothing else to go off of.

She suddenly heard a rustling, followed shortly by something jumping from a bush.

She nearly jumped out her skin. Her heart rate picked up even more and she let out a tiny yelp of fear.

She quickly calmed her racing heart as she realized it was only a squirrel.

"Relax." She muttered to herself. "You're going to be fine."

She tried to think of what Lee would say if he had been there with her. Probably something along the lines of, " _Don't worry, sweet pea. I'm here with you_."

She sniffed before scolding herself. "Enough...You can't think about that now."

She was a sensitive kid, even she knew that. She hated seeing people being bullied at her school. She would always befriend the victim, not caring if the older kids would turn on her too. The child was extremely affectionate and sweet, it couldn't be helped. She had always been that way, but right now she knew she had to be brave. She couldn't cry. Besides, no one was there to comfort her if she did.

She deer went through. She grew a bit curious, as well as nervous. Being a nine-year-old girl, who was terrified, in alone out in the middle of the woods, she wondered if she should try and find out what had gotten the deer all worked up.

After a few moments, her curiosity had gotten the better of her and she slowly and quietly made her way towards the bushes that the deer had run from.

As she walked deeper into the woods, it was then that she realized her mistake.

She stood startled and shocked for a moment. There was a walker on the ground, Clementine had no idea how long she stared at the thing before noticing it was gnawing on something. From her angle she could clearly see it was eating some poor unfortunate creature, but it was hard to make out what animal it was.

The moonlight gave the walker an Eerie glow. Clementine felt goosebumps run up and down her arm, and her stomach turned.

Clementine's eyes widened in horror. She felt sick at the sight and nearly vomited.

With a slow gulp, she started to back away, the crunching of the grass beneath her little feet, made her pause for a moment, and right when she was about to flee a twig snapped beneath her feet. The walker immediately looked up, and she locked eyes with the monster.

Now with its attention on her, the walker started to rise. It barely had made it to its feet before Clementine took off, retreating back onto the other path.

The child ran as fast as her legs would allow. She kept sprinting for a long while. She sped down the unkept trail in the wood. Eventually she slowed down. Nearly collapsing, she panted breathlessly.

She hadn't even considered finding her way back. She was started to get nervous again. She couldn't go back anyway. The train was a no go. She had to get out of Savannah.

By this point she knew at the very least, she had lost the walker. She was safe for the time being.

She sighed, rubbing her eyes sleepily. She needed food. She needed to rest.

She decided that if she could fall asleep, she wouldn't have to worry about hunger for the night.

She hunkered down against a big tree thinking she should wait it out until morning.

Once again, sleep was hard to find. She would doze off for only short periods of time before her eyes would snap open. She found herself tossing and turning all night. She couldn't sleep. She would have countless amounts of nightmares every time she managed to fall asleep. And when she would wake up, she'd been drenched in sweat even though it was freezing cold outside.

She wakes up wanting to scream, but she'd stop herself. She knew that screaming could cause her life. She didn't plan on dying. Not anytime soon.

* * *

Morning light soon came around and Clementine was still leaned against the large tree, although now she was wide awake.

With a breath she herself to her feet. Her body ached slightly, but it wasn't too bad that she couldn't shrug it off. She stretched out her back a bit, feeling uncomfortable, having slept against a tree.

Her stomach was so empty it felt as if someone was punching her over and over. She needed to find some food. She'd never felt so hungry in her entire life.

She stumbled forward, her own feet carrying her as if by some sort a reflex.

"You're going to be fine." She said weakly to herself.

She continued to reassure herself that she was going to make it out of the woods, trying to keep herself calm. All the while she was searching for something to eat. Anything; nuts, berries, anything that wouldn't kill her. She needed water too.

The wind was blowing harshly. Clementine thought she would surely catch a cold if she slept outside tonight.

She wanders forward, aimlessly, no specific direction.

She wondered if this was how animals felt, not having a home and having to find just about anywhere to lay their head at night.

She couldn't help, but feel bad thinking of the time Sandra told her not to touch the baby raccoon, that they had found in her tree house, because he was a "stray".

She wondered if people would say the same about her. She could only imagine, "don't touch her, she's a stray." Clementine frowned a bit, muttering quietly, "Don't touch her, she'll get you killed."

She shook her head, telling herself to stop thinking those thought. That Lee would be upset if he heard her speak that way.

As she was thinking to herself, she wasn't paying attention to where she was going.

Suddenly she felt a wetness on her foot, startling her out of her thoughts. She pulled her foot back, uttering a small "Ew."

She took a deep breath, ready to see something horrifying. She looked down, only to see a river. Her eyes widened as she saw the water. She wanted to squeal in excitement. The child had to pinch herself to be sure she wasn't dreaming.

She took a quick check to be sure there were no walkers around. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she dashed forward towards the bank to the river.

She scooped up water into her little hands, wetting her face. The splashing of cold water in her face, helps to wake her up. Before cupping her hands once again and allowing the water to fill them. She drank up the water quickly, quenching her thirst.

As she finished with her drinking, she took another look around. Her eyes widened and she beamed as she spotted at bush, cover with red berries.

She approached the bush and picked up one of the berries. She slowly and hesitantly bit at the berry, hoping it wouldn't be poisonous. A sweet taste filled her mouth and she sighed. She began to gobble the berries down one by one.

Feeling quite rejuvenated, she thought of a plan. "If I follow this river...It'll probably lead me out of these woods." She decided.

She did exactly that, but had no such luck on getting out.

Clementine's spirits didn't dimmer as she continued her trot along the river-line. She was nearly skipping with excitement as she looks into the clear blue water. She wonders if maybe she'd be able to catch a fish or two. Her mouth watered at the thought of a real meal. It had been forever since she had one.

She briefly remembered at the St Johns farm, and felt her stomach turn. She shudders at the thought of that "dinner", and being thrown into the meat locker.

She quickly pulled herself out of her thoughts. "Stop." She knew thinking like that would only make her sad.

She looked through the water for a bit, when she thought she saw a fish swimming around in the water. She spends about twenty minutes trying to catch the fish. With numerous, attempts she was growing disappointed. After a few more futile tries she gave a huff and stopped trying. She honestly didn't even know if she had actually truly seen the fish or if her sleep deprived mind was just playing tricks on her, but it didn't matter. The feeling of

Disappointment didn't last too long, as Clementine was happy that she at least had found those berries. She was sure to count her blessings because she had been thinking she was going to die of starvation.

Feet aching and body still feeling a bit weak, she decided it wouldn't hurt to take a day off. She could settle there for the night, or at least close by.

With that thought she soon settled herself down against a nearby tree. She was just going to take it easy today. Fighting all those walkers the day before had taken a lot out of the little girl.

She rested against the tree, feeling oddly comfortable.

She spent a while drawing with a stick in the dirt, trying to entertain herself as any child would. She had written her name several times, drawn many hearts and stars.

After that she gathered a bunch of nearby twigs, rocks and sticks. She attempted to shape them into the design on a house. Letting out a few small giggles as she worked on her little project.

Once she grew bored of that, she left the sticks close by, figuring that when it got late she could try to use them for a fire.

She leaned back against the tree and she listened to the sound of the morning birds. She had no concept of the time, but she assumed it was sometime in the early afternoon.

She found herself idly chewing on grass as time went on. It wasn't a good flavor, but the child figure if the animals could handle she could. Besides the chewing had soothed her hunger a little as she was able to convince herself that she was eating something.

It was awfully quiet and she was feeling content. She couldn't hear any walkers, nor could she hear any mean people.

She sighed from her place, feeling her little eyes droop a bit.

It wasn't long before she drifted off into and exhausted sleep. Surprisingly dreamless.


	3. Chapter 3

Clementine was awake a few hours later, feeling alert. She opened her eyes only to be greeted by darkness. Had she really slept all day? She was shocked as she looked up at the sky to see the silver moon.

It was quiet. Not like the peaceful quiet she felt a few hours ago. No. There was something strange about this silence.

She couldn't hear a sound, not even from the animals.

She rose onto her knees, from the tree, looking around. She felt like a rabbit being stalked by a predator.

She could hear the sound of her own heart beat in her ears. Something wasn't right.

The atmosphere didn't feel threatening, only strange. Like she was suddenly intruding. She no longer felt comfortable.

She took a moment to drink in her surroundings. She knew the paranoia was probably her fear of the darkness, and being alone. She couldn't sense in danger in the area, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.

She felt a pang in her chest, which soon turned into full-scale worry. She started thinking nervous about never making it out of the woods. Tears came to her eyes, she thought of being trapped in such a scary place forever.

After a while of letting herself cry, she wiped tears away. The child forced herself to her feet. She took a moment to stretch out her sore muscles. She hoped that she'd be able to find a bed or something more comfortable to sleep on than the ground, but she knew that was a low chance.

She began to slowly make her way forward. Glancing up at the sky, she felt her heart drop. Clouds had moved to cover the moon and the woods became a lot darker than before. Clementine swallowed. Now how was she supposed to find her way? If she just kept walking, not able to see where she was going, she could get hurt. Or worse, she could stumble right into a walker. She shuddered at the possibility.

As she looked up at the grey clouds, she was sure it was going to rain.

She needed to find some real shelter, sleeping under a tree wasn't going to cut it.

Hopefully she could find some place to go before it started pouring.

She swore she hiked for about five miles before she suddenly heard something that sound like thunder.

She flinched. She always hated storms. Just the thought of them scared her. And right then, it started pouring. It was raining, but it wasn't too bad.

The girl continued to walk until it started hailing. She made an attempt to take shelter under a tree until the hail stopped. However, that attempt was unsuccessful and she decided move on.

The trail was now becoming a muddy mess. She did her best to dodge the muck and keep her balance at the same time.

It had rained for a while, the child was practically soaked, but that did nothing to stop her from proceeding on. She started to feel as if she was only going to end up even more lost then before. Finding an area where the trees seemed to curve over, she decided to rest there, at least until the rain let up.

However, the rain hadn't stopped, but eventually dawn came around and Clementine decided it was light enough that she could start moving again.

She walked and walked, feeling a sharp pain as her legs screamed at her to stop. She was still getting wet by the rain, but she was determined to make it out of the forsaken woods.

Several moments later she spotting what looked like a log made cabin. It was small, about the size of a mere shack. It was right in the clearing of the trees. Her eyes squinted, wondering if what she saw was real, she inched forward. She kept on her guard as she approached it, listening out for anyone that could be inside.

She made sure to remain as quiet as possible.

She wandered around the shack, looking at it hesitantly. She wanted to wait before going in. She needed to make sure it was okay. She didn't know what would happen if she just strolled into the place without making sure it was clear.

Looking around, she could see the windows were boarded up. Which clearly meant somebody had been there at some point in time. However, the place seemed pretty abandon right now.

Pulling her gun out, she made her way slowly onto the porch. She could feel the creaking of each stair and for a moment, thought the rotting things would give out and she would fall she made it onto the porch she approached the door. She observed it, noticing the wood looked slightly rotted as well and the door was missing the handle.

It didn't take much force to open the door. In fact, with just the smallest push, it swung open.

She glanced behind her before stepping inside. She looked around the dark room.

She cracked the door, deciding it would be best not to close it completely as she wouldn't want to get trapped.

"Hello?" She called out.

She waited a moment but got no response. After a while she thought it would be best to take a look around.

She began exploring around the house, keeping her gun securely in her hands as a source of comfort.

She made sure to clear every room, looking in each cabinet, and place wasn't to large so it didn't' take let out a relieved sigh as she approached the final unchecked room.

With her blood running cold, she opened the door. It was empty. She let out a breath.

Upon further examination, she noticed a cot in the room a well folded blanket placed on it. As well as a backpack that went she looked at it, appeared to be full.

The sight of a full backpack, made Clementine feel a bit unnerved. If that was full it meant someone had to have been in the area. In the house.

Her eyes widened at the realization. What if that someone was a bad person?

She looked to the window, it was still storming pretty bad out there. Nobody in the right mind would want to get caught in that storm.

She wondered if whoever was living in this shack had went outside. Maybe they managed to get lost in the woods, if so they'd be coming back soon.

She shouldn't be here, but there was no way she planned on going back outside anytime soon. She had to make a decision.

After a while of thinking she decided that she was going to stay there.

She had a gun, if any bad people tried to hurt her she would just k-kill them. She could do it.

She turned her eyes down to see the backpack. She wanted to know what was inside, but it wasn't hers. She shouldn't touch what didn't belong to her.

The child chewed her bottom lip for a minute, contemplating on what her she should do. It was finders' keepers, right? That's how it was on the playground.

Clementine had never had that way of thinking, but the other kids did. She remembered being called stupid by some of the older kids at the neighborhood park after she found a wallet containing a hundred dollars and returned it to the rightful owners.

Her kind heart couldn't have even imagined the idea of keeping someone else belongings. She returned it without second thought. She remembers the glares she got from the older children as the old woman handed her a twenty-dollar bill, while thanking her for her honesty.

Any other seven-year-old would have probably spent it right away on candy and toys. However, Clementine had chosen to save it. It had gone straight into her piggy bank.

Her parents later praised her for doing "the right thing", and she never felt happier.

Clementine knew that things were different now. There was no right or wrong anymore. Only live or die. You had to take what you had to take to survive.

Still, the child couldn't help her hesitation. Blame on her upbringing, she definitely had a hard time doing anything she thought was bad.

She decided just a peek wouldn't hurt. As long as she didn't break anything, right?

She gave a try at lifting the bag, groaning as she felt how heavy it was. Now she was even more curious to know what was inside.

She carefully unzipped the bag and looked inside. There was a flashlight, she took the objects and her hands, switching it on. She was a bit surprised it worked. She placed it down beside her. She had no intentions on stealing it, but it could be useful when night came, seeing as though there weren't any lights and the place would be pitch black dark.

She looked back into the backpack finding a set of matches. She looked at the matches thoughtfully. She wasn't supposed to play with matches, but what if she needed them for making fire since she didn't know any other way? She decided that if the owner of the backpack didn't return it would be okay for her to take it.

She dug back into the backpack. Feeling cold metal, something sharp. She stayed extra careful as she pulled the object out for examination. Just as she had thought it was a knife, looking to be well sharpened.

There were also a few cans in the bag as well along with some other little foods like oatmeal, and granola bars.

Clementine felt her mouth water at the sight of the food. Her hunger was once again awoken as she thought of opening one of the cans of soup and eating it cold. She didn't care, at some point she had, but now food was food.

She looked around again before taking one of the cans, she hoped whoever owned this stuff wouldn't mind. She'd be sure to tell them that she took a can. Surely that would understand, she was starving.

She hated it out there, she never wanted to go into the woods again once this was over.

She looked in the bag for something that she could use to open the can, not finding anything her eyes fell to the knife. Maybe that would work. Her parents never let her use knives, they said they were dangerous. Then again, they probably wouldn't approve of her using a gun either before all this. Clementine herself wouldn't have even thought about wanting to touch a gun, they seemed so scary, but now she needed it to protect had to have a gun to keep safe from the monsters and the mean people who wanted to hurt her.

She used the knife to open the can with some difficulty. After the can was opened, she wasted no time in eating the soup. It was cold and the taste wasn't the best, but it was better than nothing and it did hurt soothed the ache in her stomach a lot better than chewing on that grass did.

Clementine, having nothing better to do opted to take a nap. She hoped that she wouldn't have any bad dreams. She slept with her gun beside her just in case the person who owned the backpack was bad. She really hoped they weren't.

She drifted off, but her sleep was not as pleasant as it had been the day before. She would wake up every hour or so, drenched in sweat.

After a few times of this she gave up on trying to sleep. She wandered around the house, looking for anything that she might have missed. At this point she had to have been there for a while, a couple of hours she was sure, but the bag owner hadn't returned yet.

She gazed outside the window to see that it was still raining, hard. She wondered if they had gotten stuck in that storm. That would be bad.

She tore her gaze away from the window and continued to explore the little cabin. She wasn't finding anything her second time around and was starting to think that the place must have been cleared out.

* * *

Time was flying fast, Clementine tried to keep a listen out for the bag owner, but the hadn't returned and before long, night had fallen. Clementine had used one of the matches to light a spare candle she found sitting on a close desk. The light that illuminated the room was both pretty and a bit creepy because of all the shadows. She thought that making shadow puppets would keep her from being scared. It of course worked.

She sleepily rubbed her eyes. She was fighting sleep. She wanted to make sure that she could inform the person that she had eaten from one of their cans.

Staying up proved to be quite difficult for the child, considering she hadn't gotten much sleep the past few days and she was used to being put to bed before ten every night. On the weekends she'd beg her parent to stay up late and surprisingly they'd agree, probably because they knew she wouldn't make it past nine-o-clock.

Clementine watched out the window. She was glad she couldn't hear any thunder. She hated stormy nights. She'd always crawl into bed with her parents, crying about the loud and scary noises.

The sound of the rain was calming as it was no longer as harsh as it had been when it had first started. Her mother had once told her that the rain was the angels' tears. She wondered if they were crying happy or sad tears.

She thought of lullabies her mom would sing to her during the storms or the stories her daddy would tell her, all to distract her from her fear of the loud noises.

She was never nervous about the rain, in fact she liked it. Whenever it rained, her parents would make it family time. Clementine loved it, since her parents were often gone. At work or some business trip.

She was far from neglected, she was well taken care of, and honestly it was pretty fun hanging out with Sandra, but she treasured time with her mom and dad.

Being an only child, she had no one to play with at home so she had become pretty much a loner. Yes, she would play with other children, but she didn't always like going outside. Nature wasn't her thing, and besides that she wasn't even old enough to cross the street on her own without permission.

She remembered one time when she had been left alone, Sandra was running late and her dad had to leave for work, her mom having already left.

Clementine begged him to take her with him, but her dad had to her it was against the rules for him to do that, she could get hurt.

The child then broke into tears and her dad had spent ten minutes comforting her, which in turn made him late for work. Upon being told that, Clementine felt guilty and let him go, sadly assuring him that she would be a good girl and take keep an eye on that "Tricky hamster" as her dad liked to call him.

Her dad gave her a pat on the head and then he was out of the door. As soon as the door shut Clementine found her heart beating a million miles a minute. She was scared to death. Her lips quivered and she wanted to cry.

Other children would probably use the chance to watch cartoons or get into some sort of trouble around the house, but Clementine wasn't other kids.

She was a nervous wreck. She had gotten so used to not being alone that she needed to have someone there with her. She counted on it.

As soon as Sandra showed up she threw herself into her babysitter's arms. Sandra just chuckled and asked if Clementine had missed her that much.

Hard to believe the kid who feared being alone actually ended up being alone. It was ironic. Clementine had to deal with it though, she couldn't have someone there for her anymore. She had to get used to taking care of herself. Grownups did it, so she could do it too.

She recognized that feeling she had at that time now. She hadn't known what it was then, but she knew exactly what it was now.

It was a feeling of abandonment and helplessness. She knew that feeling all too well. As she felt it day after day.

Thinking about that was enough to bring on a small headache. She brought tiny hands to her temples, trying to rub it away.

She wasn't going to think anymore. It only helps to make her depressed. Instead she chooses to listen to the sound of the rain.

As she absently listened to the raindrops against the window, she felt her eyes start to droop.

She didn't want to fall asleep. She tried to tell her herself to just stay awake for a little longer. She was becoming tried from trying to stay awake and she eventually dozed off into sleep.

* * *

Clementine woke bright and early the next morning. She was still laid on the cot, she could still hear the sound of rain coming from outside. She pulled herself up with a yawn, the girl hadn't realized she had fallen asleep. She couldn't recall but she had dreamed of, if she even had a dream, but she was happy she was still safe and not out in that weather.

She looked around the room, but everything was still the way it had been before. She listened for any noise, but she could hear nothing, but the sound of her breathing, meaning whoever owned the bag hadn't come back. Either they got stuck in that storm or worse.

She couldn't see them moving on and leaving all their supplies. There had to have been a reason why they hadn't returned. Seeing as though most of the food was uneaten and there had been a few empty cans scattered downstairs, she was under the assumption that someone had just recently been living in the cabin. Which also meant Savannah may not have been as deserted as they had thought.

She felt her stomach growl and the child realized that she hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. She looked over to the backpack. Once again she hoped that whoever owned the bag was nice. She could pay them back. Her father had taken her fishing once, of course he had a fishing rod, but maybe it would be easier for her to just catch them in her hands. She decided that if she had to she could navigate her way back to the little river and try to catch some fish, hopefully she'd be more successful.

As she munched on the granola bar she tried to think of a plan. Where would she go after this? What would she do? Was staying here an option? If so, for how long would she stay. There were so many questions that ran through her head. Decisions a nine-year-old, shouldn't have to make.

* * *

The next day the girl had an unexplainable stomach-ache. She had no appetite as a result of the stomach pain.

She briefly wondered if she had consumed something bad or poisoned, but brushed off the idea as the food seemed fresh and it hadn't bothered her at the time she was eating it.

She held a hand over her stomach trying to ignore the pain. She clenched her eyes shut and tried to wait for it to pass.

It took a while, and by a while, it was at the very least an hour.

But after that Clementine was feeling a lot better. She still didn't have an appetite, but she was no long feeling that tummy-ache.

* * *

After the random stomach ache, Clementine had been feeling good, she was safe from the outside world and from the looks of it the bag owner wasn't returning. That was fine by her, she rather not take the chance of running into a possible bad guy.

Things were going fine, but two days later the child awoken with a runny nose, a sore throat and terrible body aches. As she tried to get up, her head swam and she felt as if she would faint. Her limbs seem to be made out of lead.

She whimpered in pain. She was in great discomforted and too tired to even move. She wanted nothing more than to be held by her parents. To be taken care of, protected, told everything would be okay.

She knew she was running a fever, as she couldn't stop the chills in her body. She never felt so sick in her entire life.

Had she caught a cold from staying in the rain? Or was it the flu?

Her parents would take her to the doctor to get a flu shot every year.

She'd cry and complain, "I don't want a needle!"

And they would gently explain that she needed it because it would, "Keep her from getting sick."

She would hold her daddy's hand as she felt the prick of the needle in her skin.

Then they would treat her with a toy or something sweet for being so brave.

Clementine gave a tiny smile at the thought. She missed her parents so much.

The next day she wasn't doing any better. In fact, she felt worse. She had stayed settled down for some much-needed rest. Her entire body was hurting and she couldn't stop herself from coughing.

Her coughing had gotten so bad she could barely breathe. She wondered in horror if she was dying. She wasn't ready yet. She didn't want to die. Not now.

As she calmed from her coughing fit and regained her breathing, she thought, maybe there was some medicine around. She was in desperate need for some.

She was sure she was suffering from the flu as she had never experienced a cold this bad before. At least not that she could remember of.

She forced herself onto her feet, her legs were barely strong enough to support her shaky form, but somehow, she manages to stumble into the kitchen. Nothing.

From there she managed to make her way to the bathroom. Right in time too, for as soon as she reached the door she felt an overwhelming urge to vomit. She rushed to the toilet and threw up. Once she was done she stumbled to the sink. She used her shaky hands to open the medicine cabinet, letting out a gasp as her head started to spin. That light-headed, fainting feeling was back. She grasped onto the faucet to steady herself.

She was feeling woozy, she felt like she was stuck on a roller coaster ride. Tears started to fall out of fear, but nobody heard her cries because she was alone.

Trying her best to fight dizziness so she could check the cabinet for medicine. Before she knew it, she felt her legs give away. The girl collapsed to the floor. And soon everything went dark.


	4. Chapter 4

The girl had hit her head and fallen unconscious.

She laid unmoving for a while, but she gradually started to stir.

She looked around, wondering briefly where she was. She panicked for a moment before remembering.

She had to get up. She needed to get up and just take the medicine. After that, she'd feel all better.

Somehow the girl found the strength to force herself off the ground. She gripped the sink to keep her balance as she felt herself swaying, her head pounding painfully.

Looking up she suddenly locked eyes onto some medication. Using one hand to steady herself, she reached out and grabbed the bottle, reading the label titled "cough syrup". Not knowing the proper dosage amount, she plugged her nose and took a gulp of the bitter medicine.

She figured it was kicking in fast as the more she sipped the better she felt. She could no longer feel the ache in her body, but her thoughts were becoming all fuzzy. She was suddenly feeling giggly and excited.

She stumbled her way from the bathroom, heading for the stairs. She decided she should lay down for a bit.

* * *

Clementine awoke feeling like she was being suffocated.

She thrashed for a bit before jerking up right. Another nightmare... She sighed sadly.

She glanced around the room. The room was of course, the same as it had been the past few days, dark, and quiet.

Looking out the window, she realized she had slept most of the day.

She pulled the light blanket closer around her body. It was cold. It was freezing! No matter what she did, she couldn't get warm.

She pulled her knees to her chest while laying on her side, a natural response to the cold.

She wished she could take a warm bath or drink some hot chocolate.

She suddenly felt a wetness caress her cheeks, but quickly brushed it away. She hated being sick. Fighting illness was always hard for the child.

She whimpered as her head throbbed. Pulling the blanket over her head, she clenched her eyes shut.

Her stomach hurt, she knew she should try to eat something. Her parents always told her if she ate a little she'd feel better.

She tried to stop her shivering as she started to drag herself to the backpack, fishing in it for something that would be light on her stomach.

She ate slowly as not to upset her stomach, then lays back down for a bit.

Her head is spinning and she's having burst of hot and cold flashes. Clementine was certain her fever was spiked.

She let out a groan of pain, trying to be a "big girl". She didn't want to cry.

Medicine...She needed more medicine. She wasn't sure if it had helped, but it made her sleepy. Sleep was good for you when you were sick. That's why she always had to stay home from school and rest whenever she was ill.

Tossing the blanket aside, the girl forced herself to her feet.

The moment she stood, she was plagued by dizziness. Yet somehow, she managed to make her way to the bathroom.

Things went more smoothly this time, as she easily sipped on the bitter medication.

After a while she became a bit lightheaded.

Dizziness was slowly fading away or maybe she had become too out of it to think about pain.

Only moments later, her mind was running wild, she couldn't focus on one thing for too long and suddenly everything was funny. Clementine giggled, as her little feet stumbled from the bathroom. She hardly made it to the room and dropped to the floor as soon as she arrived.

She couldn't stop giggling, she didn't even know what was so funny.

Looking up at the ceiling, she thought about how nice it would be to feel so giddy all the time.

* * *

Once morning had come along, Clementine woke in a daze.

She couldn't recall much of the previous day's events, however, she remembered that feeling of extreme giddiness and joy. She didn't even know what had her so happy.

Now she was feeling starved and in pain again. Her headache had increased tenfold, and she couldn't stop her body from shaking.

The medicine clearly wasn't doing much for her, she decided. It only put her to sleep, how did her parents get it to work?

She rubbed a hand over her sore-throat. She needed some water.

She dug in the bag, finding a full water bottle in one of the zippers. She gulped it down immediately. It was warm, but she didn't care. Water was water.

The liquid held to ease her sore throat slightly, but her stomach protested as she drank the water.

She hated this. She wondered why she had to get sick at such a time. She was out in the middle of nowhere and all alone. There was no worse place to fall ill.

Slowly but surely, she was getting worse. It had gotten to a point where she could no longer keep foods down. She hadn't a clue why she was so sick.

With no doctors, no antibiotics and no knowledge on proper dosage, Clementine was left to her own devices.

She spent days drifting in and out of consciousness, and trying to force her weak body to consume what little food and water it would allow.

She was starting to accept that she was probably going to die. She decided she was ready. There was no fighting it. At least she'd get to see her family again. She fully accepted her fate.

She was sure she was going to die that night. She drifted off, knowing if she closed her eyes she might not open them again.

However, she awoke in the morning. She was drenched in sweat, but she was alive. At that point she realizes something remarkable had happened; her fever had broken.

* * *

Three days later Clementine was well on the road to recovery. Many of her symptoms had disappeared and she was on her way back to full health.

She had given up on waiting for whoever own the bag to return. Clearly, they weren't coming back.

She looked outside, it was no longer raining, in fact, it seemed clear and sunny out there.

She figured she could use some fresh air, having been in the little cabin for over a week.

As she stood on the porch staring off into the distance, realization dawned on her that she was still in the middle of the woods.

This cabin wasn't a permanent solution. Sure, this place might be hard to find, but what if someone mean managed to stumble upon it like her? That could turn into a deadly situation. Finding food would be a problem too, since she was bound to run out eventually and then she'd be forced to go search through those scary woods.

Either way she was going to end out back out there, like it or not.

She made up her mind that the moment she was recovered, she had to leave.

Making her way back inside, she checked the supplies. There was still a good amount of objects in the bag.

She knew that she had to be careful in keeping track of how much was left. It was better to leave sooner than later, that way she could at least be sure she had a meal for a couple days or so.

She didn't know how long she'd be out there, or if she'd be able to find a group that would be kind enough to take her in. For now, she was on her own, and she had to make do with what she had.

* * *

Clementine grunted as she forced the backpack closed with some struggle. She wished she could bring the cot along, as she was tired of sleeping on the unforgiven ground, but there was no way she could carry all that stuff, it would slow her down. She sighed, she'd have to make do with the blanket. It was light, but it was much better than nothing, at least she'd keep a bit warmer at night.

She slung the backpack over her shoulder, with a groan. It was heavy. There was no use in complaining though, no one was around to carry it for her, and she needed everything that was inside.

She slowly made her way out of the cabin, shutting the door behind her.

She could feel the warm sun hit her face as she stepped outside, causing her to squint her eyes and turn her head away.

It was early morning. Clementine had made it her goal to get out of the woods by tonight. She didn't want to spend the night sleeping there.

She took a deep breath, letting air fill her lungs and started walking.

After being out there for a while, Clementine figured things were going well. If she kept this up, she'd be out of there by tonight for sure, but things never work out that way, do they?

As she climbed her way up a steep hill, covered in fallen trees, her hope for getting out by that night were dashed. She wonders how deep she was in those woods.

She found herself going on for two or three miles more before Clementine became very weak and fatigue. She felt unable to walk any further.

"Shit..." She softly swore. She knew it was bad, but she couldn't help herself.

She should've waited. She should've let herself rest up more.

She leaned against a tree, breathing raggedly. She was deep in the woods, and she was still recovering from whatever sickness she had, but on the bright-side she had a bag full of supplies.

She could make a little camp and rest for a while, regaining some energy.

She was going to be okay. She knew she was. She had to be.

* * *

Over the course of two weeks the girl had started to adapt to being alone. She was no longer as fearful of the woods as she had been. She could walk through them without a problem.

She could handle walkers without a single flinch.

She would travel during the day and stop once it got too dark to see. The darkness still left her a bit paranoid, but it wasn't too bad. She could deal with it. She was a big girl after-all.

She was sure she had made it out of Savannah. If not, she honestly had no idea where she was. It didn't matter much. The only thing she cared about was being alive.

During the night, she would huddle up against a tree, with her little blanket. Or she would settle down anywhere she deemed safe enough.

It was becoming colder, and the girl was sure she'd probably be seeing snow soon.

Fortunately, she had learned how to start a fire, using the matches of course.

She always made sure to keep it low as not to alert any walkers and she'd scuff it out in the early morning.

She made sure not to stay in any place too long, she knew that wasn't a good idea. She had to keep moving, that's how she managed to stay alive for so long anyway.

Lucky for her, she hadn't run into any bad people, but then again, she hadn't run into any good people either. Maybe that would change soon, not that she minded much. Being alone made it safer for whoever might associate with her.

Clementine was only nine, but she had already experienced so much that she was not oblivious. She knew she couldn't trust everyone. She may have been young, but she was far from stupid. She knew any wrong move could be her last, so she remained extra careful.

Clementine was trying not to lose hope that things would ever go back to normal, but it was hard. Normalcy didn't seem to exist anymore. The only reason she wanted to believe that there was the slightest possibility that things could ever go back to the way they were before was because Lee told her he thought it was possible.

She just hoped it was true, she didn't want to spend the rest of her life living like this. That would suck quite a bit.

As she carried on walking she managed to come to an empty street, she got an eerie feeling as she walked down it.

At the end of the street there was a cul-de-sac with three houses on the corner. Clementine felt her heart-rate pick up as she looked around the place that seemed far too quiet.

Something about the place was sketchy, but she knew there was a chance that she could find much supplies.

She shifted the backpack, that had become much lighter, over the past few weeks. She could use as much supplies as she could get.

Clementine stood frozen for long moments as she watched the three houses, wondering if she should investigate the houses.

She stared down at the grass, the abandoned settlement was creepy. It was like a real-life horror movie.

After a while she figured it was no harm in just looking.

She slowly walked to the first house. She tried the door, but it didn't budge. It was sealed tightly, windows and all. There was no way anyone was getting in without breaking the door down.

She glanced around quickly, she wanted to leave, but of course she needed to check the other two buildings. She needed to make sure they didn't have supplies.

She approached the second house and opened the door.

"Hello," She called in almost a whisper. No response.

She spotted a stairway as she walked into the house.

She felt a sense of dejavu.

This couldn't be happening again. Another empty house?

"Hello?!"

Nothing.

She rushed up the stairs, but found the house completely empty.

* * *

The first thing Molly noticed when she approached the cabin were footprints. Little footprints. Someone had been to the house. Someone small. A child, perhaps

It seemed they were alone as there were no other visible footprints. The only person who came to mind when she thought of children was Clementine. The little girl was the last child she had seen.

But it couldn't have been Clementine, could it? Last time she saw the child, she was with Lee and the others. How could she end up alone?

She walked into the little cabin and went to the bedroom. The backpack she had left was missing.

Someone had obviously been in the cabin. Could it really have been Clementine?

It didn't matter, it seemed whoever it was long gone by now.

She had to keep moving. Savannah seemed wiped clean. It was time to move on.

* * *

Clementine investigated the final house, hoping that she would get lucky again and find more supplies. Of course that was a shot in the dark.

She quietly made her way onto the porch. Immediately she felt sick. There was a beheaded bunny rabbit laid out by the doorway. This alone should've been a sign to turn around and get as far away as possible, but Clementine tried her best to ignore it.

She wiggled the door knob, which nearly broke off, it was so loose. She slowly walked into the house.

She stayed careful as she made sure each room was empty, making sure to shut each door behind her. No walkers were sneaking up on her.

"Is anybody home?" She asked a bit louder.

There was still no response.

Clementine was so confused.

She decided the only thing left was to check the backyard.

She opened the door and stepped outside. Her eyes grew wide in horror. There were walkers tied to trees, their bodies pierced by arrows. Some of them were still alive and moving.

Clementine was horrified, it was obvious someone was using them for target practice.

She tried to stay calm and look for anything important. The sight of the zombies were playing with her nerves.

As she walked around, she made the mistake of moving too close to a walker.

The creature latched onto her ankle, trying to yank her leg towards its mouth. Clementine stomped on the thing's hand numerous times until it let her go, causing her to trip. She scampered back, eyes full of fear.

She quickly forced herself to her feet only to be grabbed by another. The walker attached itself to her hoodie, trying to sink its blackened teeth into her neck.

She panicked and slammed her foot into its crotch, the blow however didn't faze it at all.

She tried to free herself, but it was strong. It was straining to bite the child, who struggled with all her power. Her struggling caused the grip on her arms to drastically loosen and she managed to slip away. She turned and ran.

She dashed back into the house slamming the door. She could hear the walkers growling, struggling against the ropes and she wondered if they could hold them long.

She wanted to scream and cry, but that was her sign to get out of there.

She walked out the front door, hoping not to run into anymore walkers.

Once out of the house, she cursed her luck a she spotted a single walker. She felt her breath hitch, but quickly decided it was only one. She could handle it. Pulling her screw driver from her pocket, she slowly snuck up on it, stabbing it in the head. It was clearly eating something, and Clementine didn't bother to check what. She was sure her stomach wouldn't be able to handle it.

As she pulled the screwdriver free, watching the walker fall dead, she noticed something out of the corner of her eyes.

There was a light. Not just any light, it was a car light.

She froze and for just a moment, all her fearlessness had disappeared. She went blank.

She's thinking there are only two scenarios, either they'll help her or they'll murder her. Either way, she wasn't going to wait around and find out which of the two was right.

She sauntered off nonchalantly. She didn't want whoever was in that truck to realize she was scared. She was hoping that maybe they hadn't even noticed her.

Suddenly the car honk it's horn and Clementine's heart nearly jumped from her chest. Her whole being was screaming at her that something wasn't right. She got a full-blown feeling of horror, and with tingles running through her little palms and feet, she made a mad dash, sweat dripping from her forehead. She panicked when she noticed they were right on her trail. She had to think fast. And the only reasonable get away she could think of was back into the woods.

She ran as fast as she could. Dodging the headlights, she made her way for the trees.

* * *

She can no longer see the headlights. But she knows they're close by.

As she stumbles through the trees, hoping that they'll just go away she suddenly hears a voice.

She looks around nervously and gasp. She can see the flickering of a flashlight.

She starts running down the trail of the woods, hurdling over falling trees, trying her best not to trip. She figured if she tripped and fell or ran out of energy, she'd be done for. She wasn't the fastest runner, but it seemed all that soccer had definitely paid off.

She quickly hid behind a bush. From where she was she could make out the figures, there were five of them, all baring guns.

She threw her hand over her mouth. Obviously, they didn't have good intentions.

She freaked out as one of the men approached her hiding spot. He stopped, looking around. She tried to hold her breath.

She waited for a while then she heard him say something.

"I know you're out here. Come out."

Clementine bit her lip to keep her sobs of fear contained. She was so scared she could hardly handle it.

She started shuffling on her hands and knees, making sure to stay low so she couldn't be spotted.

She can see the other men looking around for obvious hiders.

She crawls further, staying behind trees and bushes. There was no way she could take them all. She was out numbered. And a little girl against one grown man would be crazy, but there were five of them. She didn't stand a chance.

She let out a little whimper. One of the men stop then started walking closer to her hiding spot. By some lucky miracle he walked right pass her.

She quickly crawled from the bush and ran. The men cursed and started chasing after her. She quickly hid under a pile of leaves.

She held her breath as long as she could. There was no doubt in her mind that those people had bad intentions.

She waited for a long while, until she heard the men cursing and arguing.

She soon after heard the sound of them retreating from the area.

Clementine stayed there for several minutes delirious with fear. Finally, she worked up the courage to come out of hiding. Moving silently as possible, she watched for any signs of the guys, but they were nowhere to be seen.

Heart pounding, she started running. She stayed on her guard, expecting the unexpected.

Clementine kept running on her wobbly legs. It felt like an entirety but she finally reached the main trail and kept running.

* * *

She eventually felt safe enough to slow her pace. She walked slowly, not having the energy to go any faster.

It was getting dark, she realized with trepidation. She wondered, how long had she stayed hiding from those guys?

She just hoped that truck wasn't coming back.

Climbing over a gate, she started up the hill and soon came to an old paven roadway. It was of course deserted.

She didn't want to venture up that road, but it was the only direction she had to go. There was no way she was going back, not when those guys could still be out there.

Cars were scatter all over the streets. She couldn't see where the road would end.

As she walked it, her feet started to hurt. It was steep.

She made sure to check opened cars for supplies, keeping her gun out just in case.

But time she got halfway down the road, it was dark. She had a flash light, but because of the trees it didn't help much.

She decided she should try to rest for the night and keep moving in the morning. After she recovered her breath, she decided it'd be best to take refuge in a car.

She looked to one of the cars and approached it.

The car seems old, like something her grandparents would drive, and she noticed the color was a bright ugly yellow. So bright that she could see it, even through the darkness.

She pulled her tiny flashlight from her backpack and shined it into the windows. It seemed clear, but there was only one way to find out... She opened the door.

She slowly climbed into the front seat, searching for the keys. She couldn't drive, but who's to say she couldn't try if she ever had to.

She kept her gun at ready as she checked inside the car. She found no keys. She quickly decided to get out and check the trunk, better safe than sorry. Looking at it she thought it would have been too small for an adult to fit in. Still, she had to be sure.

She dug in her pocket to find the screw driver. She pulled it out and jammed it into the keyhole of the trunk. She gave a hard twist until she heard a pop.

Moving back a bit, she used her strength to open the trunk.

She felt relief flood through her body as she looked into the empty trunk. She shut the truck again, before opening the back door of the car. In the back seat she found a book, and a half-eaten box of crackers.

Eyes brightening, she took the crackers and hungrily started shoving them into her mouth.

She hopped back into the driver's seat, wondering what to do. She had seen her father drive before. She thought maybe should could copy what she saw them do.

She shoved the screwdriver into the keyhole. She turned the screwdriver and surprisingly, the car started.

She sighed and turned the car back off. She was tired. She just need to rest her eyes for a bit. She wasn't going to sleep long, just a few minutes. It wasn't long before she drifted off.

* * *

So bright...It was too bright. Clementine groaned, was it morning already? Or was it just the moonlight shining through the windows.

The girl tried to turn to cover her eyes, slightly annoyed. It didn't help. It was too bright.

Finally, she sat up wanting to see what that brightness was, her eyes widened.

She saw headlights. The car was just parked in front of her, unmoving. The guys were staring into the car. They were staring at her! She swore she could see one of the men grinning wildly, but the lights were too bright to be sure.

Panicked, Clementine turned the screwdriver, trying to start the car.

It didn't work.

"Come on! Come on!" She begged. She tried again and again.

What was she doing? She couldn't drive. She was just a nine-year-old kid...

Still she kept trying until finally, the car started. Clementine pushed the gas quickly. The car begins to tear down the road.

Her eyes wide as the car behind her started moving as well, it's headlight practically blinding her.

Clementine slammed the brakes and they flew past her before slamming their breaks. The car suddenly stopped and the door opened.

Clementine's heart nearly stopped. Three of the men had stepped out and started to advance towards her, with malicious grins on their faces. The men were clearly all armed.

She looked around quickly for an escape. Not knowing what else to do, she floored the car, speeding past them.

It was so dark; the girl couldn't see. She was terrified, she had no idea if they were still chasing her. She made it halfway down the road, before noticing she was heading straight for a stone wall. She whimpered fearfully, desperately trying to stop the car.

She tried to slam the brake, but her little foot slipped. She took hold of the wheel and jerked left. The car turned still speeding. Clementine found herself losing control of the vehicle.

She could hear the car skid. She clenched her eyes shut. The car jet onward and unable to stop it, she crashed straight into a tree, body jerking forward.

She heard a loud crash of glass breaking, followed by an explosive noise filled the air as the airbag deployed, nearly suffocating her.

Clementine struggled, trying to free herself before remembering the screwdriver. She grabbed hold of it and stuck it into the airbag.

She heard yelling, the men shouting that she was dead.

She wondered if they were right? Was she dying?

Sharp pain filled her body as she tried to force the door open, and suddenly she passed out.

* * *

 _'My chest...My back...It hurts...Why's it hurt?'_ She thought as she came to.

Glass was everywhere and Clementine had woken up on the ground. She felt something wet on her ear, and she realized with fear, that she couldn't feel her leg.

The car was filled with smoke. Clementine choked, tossing the door open, she threw herself out the car.

Clementine thought it was a miracle that she was alive.

She tried to stand, but her leg refused to hold her weight. She finally looked down to see what was wrong with her leg.

She nearly screamed. Her leg was bent at an odd angle and there was blood dripping from her pants.

She was bleeding, there was so much blood. Her head was spinning. As she could only think about all the blood.

She was dying! She was dying! She knew she was dying!

The girl was sure her leg was badly broken. She couldn't move it at all. She begins to hyperventilate, tears falling.

She felt a throbbing pain in her lip, her head, everything.

Gritting her teeth, she tried to force herself up, but the pain was too much and she passed out again.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Thanks to gaara king of the sand for checking for errors.**_

* * *

Clementine opened her eyes and immediately felt pain. It was almost overwhelming.

She looked down at her injured leg. It was broken. She knew it was broken. Blood soaked through her pants leg and each time she shifted her weight she'd be overcome by a wave of pain.

She lay on the ground, feeling nausea hit her. She forced herself to swallow. She had to get up. She had to keep moving, otherwise she would die.

Slowly she eased her little body into a sitting position.

She looked around for her bag. She quickly spotted it beside her and grabbed it, pulling in on.

She looked around, wondering where to go. She sat there for a moment, thinking on how she could stand with one leg, when just moving hurt so bad.

Clementine used her little remaining strength to roll onto her stomach, the she pushed herself up.

Instantly she felt pain race through her body, and she shifted all her weight to her good foot.

She could feel blood dripping from her leg, but she ignored it.

She was lost, she was freezing and even worse she was now injured.

She pulled her hoody tighter around herself, trying her best to limp on her bleeding leg.

She clenched her teeth in pain as she limped along. The bag on her back wasn't making it any easier to walk, as the added weight was a burden to carry.

She nearly fell, but quickly recovered, taking a moment to catch her breath. She gritted her teeth, wondering how she'd be able to keep moving if she fell again.

Her body was screaming at her. She didn't know how much torture she could put herself through. She couldn't go on this way for the rest of her life.

* * *

She was in excruciating pain. Every step she took was agony on her young body.

She suddenly tripped painfully. She fell hard. She tried to force her body up, but it refused to cooperate with her. And with that, the girl started to crawl.

She was still bleeding; there was so much blood, but she kept moving.

With pain throbbing through her, she dragged herself further and further away.

She had no idea where she was going, but something possessed her to keep moving.

The girl licked over her dried lips. She didn't want to stop. She couldn't just die out there.

She had to just keep moving somehow.

She needed water. Her throat was sore from lack of such.

Shaking from exhaustion and dehydration. She looked up, hoping to see grey clouds, but the sky was clear as day. No rain, no snow, just cold.

She crawled until pain became so much she didn't remember where she was. She crawled until she couldn't go on anymore.

She laid on the ground, her body too weak to move.

Shallow breaths escaped the girl as she was incapacitated on the ground.

She could hear her heart beating in her ears.

Suddenly a light shined on her. She panicked but was too weak to move.

She could hear footsteps approaching her and she wanted to run.

Clementine felt despair in her heart. She had hoped she had a chance. But now she was doomed to die.

She fought back tears again, then realized she had no tears left to shed.

She looked up to see two figures approaching her. Someone was asking if she was okay... Was she seeing things? She blinked and tried to focus, but she couldn't. Thoughts raced through her young mind.

Then the world went dark.

* * *

Heat envelops her. She was so warm, it felt nice.

When she opened her eyes, she looks down to see a jacket placed over her. Her eyes widened and she looked up, the first thing she sees is a man. He's sitting close by.

She panicked, searching for her gun. Her left hand touched its cold metal and she breathed in relief. She clasped the gun with trembling fingers and forced herself to sit up, ignoring her dizziness and pain.

"Hey?" One of the men looked to her. "You're up..."

"Stay away!" Clementine shouted.

He stopped, raising his hands in a nonthreatening manner, a surprised look on his face. He glanced to his friend before looking back at the girl.

"Hey, it's okay." He said calmly, "We just wanna help."

"I don't need any help!"

"You sure. You seem pretty messed up." The other guy said in disbelief.

Her first instinct was to cry to them, that she was lost and scared, but intuition was telling her not to talk to them. They were strangers, she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers.

She wanted to run, but she couldn't. Not on her leg.

"We're not going to hurt you." The first man promised.

"You're strangers." Clementine defiantly inform them. "I'm not supposed to talk to you.

"You're right, I'm Ronnie." One of the men introduced himself before motioning towards the younger man, "And this is Bart." He said. "What's your name, sweetie?"

"Clementine."

"See, now we're not strangers." Ronnie grinned, "We should get you out of this cold before you freeze to death. We won't hurt you, promise."

Fear flashed across the girl's face.

She tried to be brave, remember how Lee acted. Keep her voice smooth and cool.

The courage she mustered up had shrank with each step the strangers took towards her.

She gulped. Her little face was red from the cold and her body was trembling from fear, pain, and exhaustion.

"Who's with you?" Bart asked, sounding a bit aggressive.

"No one." She looked down. "I'm alone."

"No way?" Bart replied.

Clementine used her sleeves to rub her sore, tired eyes. "I really am."

"Seriously?" Bart sounded surprised. "You're just a kid...How'd you make it this long?"

Clementine didn't respond. The child was biting her lower lip to the point where she was bleeding.

"...I should go." She tried to force herself to stand, but it was impossible with her injured leg.

"You should be careful, you'll only hurt yourself more." Ronnie said, offering her a kind smile.

Clementine shuddered.

"Here, let me-"

"Get away from me!" The child squeaked.

"Hey, relax." Ronnie gave a weak smile. "I don't mean any harm."

"Just leave me be...please." Clementine begged.

"It's okay, I promise." He was still smiling kindly.

Clementine sent them both a weird glance, insinuating that she didn't trust them.

"It must have been hard for you, being alone and all." Ronnie spoke gently.

Clementine watched him with curiosity and fear.

"It's okay. Relax." The man said in a soothing tone. He dug into his bag, pulling out a flask. "Drink something. I'm sure you're thirsty." He offered it to the girl.

Clementine took the flask into her little palms. She slowly sipped on the content before muttering a soft, "T-Thank you."

* * *

The men offered the girl some food and after a while Clementine had relax quite a bit.

"So, you're alone?" Ronnie asked.

"Y-Yes." Clementine nodded.

"Must be hard for you." He commented.

Clementine nodded. "It is."

"How would you like to come back with us?" Bart offered.

"I don't know..." Clementine mumbled. She didn't know what to do. They seemed genuinely nice, but it was the same way with the man who kidnapped her.

"We have a little girl around your age. I'm sure she'd love a new friend..." Ronnie said to the child.

"You do?" She asked.

"Yeah." Bart said.

"What's her name?" Clementine gently asked.

"Danielle." Ronnie answered.

"I..." She didn't want to freeze to death. Nor did she want to die from exposure. She was only nine and was still pretty naive as expect from any child. "I guess so..."

* * *

When morning came, it was time to move on. They point out the campfire and started packing. Clementine was scared to be going with two people she didn't know, but they seemed like her best chance at survival at the time.

"How do you feel?" Ronnie asked her.

"Sore." Clementine said.

"Yeah, we're gonna get you out of this cold." He told her, lifting her into his arms, careful not to jostle her leg.

He walks outside where a van is parked.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"It's okay. We're going to take you some place safe." Ronnie reassured her.

Clementine suddenly felt alarm bells going off in her head. "N-No...Just-"

"You need medical attention. We'll take care of you." He shushed. "You'll get to play with Danielle."

"Okay..." She tries to calm her racing heart as he places her in the back seat of the van. She feels her heart skip a beat as the door closes.

They start driving in silence, Clementine feeling anxious all the way.

"Want any pain medicine?" Ronnie offered.

"N-No." She quickly refused. She didn't want to fall asleep or get dazed. She needed to at least be alert, in case something bad happened.

The man shrugs and goes silent once more.

Clementine soon finds it harder and harder to stay awake. She looks around only to meet Bart's eyes, watching her from the rear-view mirror, with a stare so blank it chilled her.

She quickly looks away. Clementine didn't like Bart very much.

"If you're tired, you can go to sleep, sweetie. I'll wake you up when we get there." Ronnie speaks kindly.

Clementine doesn't respond. She didn't want to go to sleep. She had to stay awake.

She was fighting a mental battle with herself to stay awake, and she was losing.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Thanks to gaara king of the sand for the proofreading and help.**_

* * *

Clementine's eyes fluttered open and she was immediately hit with a feeling of fear.

She didn't know where she was. She started to panic until she saw Ronnie shoot her a small smile and memories came flooding back.

"Hey there, uh... Clementine." Ronnie greeted.

"H-Hi." She said in a small voice.

"How are you feeling?" Ronnie asked the child.

"My leg hurts..." Clementine said quietly. She looked to the mirror, once again locking eyes with Bart. She shuddered, looking away.

"I'm sure, we're going to have someone look at it." Ronnie spoke.

Clementine nodded. "Okay..."

"How'd you do that anyway?" Bart asked.

"What?" She questioned back.

"Hurt your leg like that, how'd you manage to do that?" Bart wondered.

"These guys were chasing me. So, I was trying to get away." Clementine explained.

"Chasing?" Ronnie asked.

"Yes." Clementine said, "It was scary. I got into a car and tried to drive it, but it crashed."

"Ouch! Must've hurt." Ronnie frowned, giving her a sympathetic look.

"It did. A lot." Clementine said.

"Well you're safe now. You don't have to worry about people hurting you." Ronnie smiled.

Clementine didn't respond. Silence once again falls over them and Clementine nearly finds herself drifting off again.

They continue down the road and all too soon, she sees a house come into view.

Clementine's head was spinning with paranoia. She took in the house and the landscape around it.

The house was secluded. It was in a deep, woodsy area.

Clementine decided to quickly think of an escape plan if things went bad. Fortunately, she had gotten pretty used to the woods, so if she had to make a break for it, she figured she'd be able to lose the two men. The only problem was her leg, she wouldn't be able to run with it, but she could easily hide herself under a pile of leaves, as not many people would think the look in such a place.

"Here we are." Ronnie said.

"Home sweet home." Added Bart.

Clementine swallowed a lump in her throat as the two men looked back at her.

"Well..." Bart shifted the car into park, "I'm heading inside."

He opened the door, Ronnie following his lead. The two climbed out the car and as Bart headed into the house, Ronnie approached Clementine. He extended his arms to take her into.

The girl tensed for a moment as he lifted her up. The man carried her into the house wordlessly. Once they got inside he placed her on the couch.

"Sit tight, kiddo." He said.

She gave a tiny nod as he disappeared into another room.

Clementine could hear muffled voices, but she was too distracted by pain to try to make out what was being said.

She clenched her teeth, wondering how she would manage to run on a broken leg if things headed south for her.

Forcing her eyes open, she glanced around the room, the look was simple enough.

From her position on the couch, she could catch a glimpse of what looked to be a dining area. There were several chairs, and two large tables, all of which seemed to be rotting away.

She looked down at the couch she was rested on. The sofa's fabric was torn and its bright orange color had faded a bit.

A throbbing pain, brought her focus back to her broken limp. She did her best to sit up, she managed to do so with plenty of struggle. Once she was seated she looked down at her leg, blood was still slowly, but surely coming from her wound. Her leggings had become stained with red at this point, and Clementine knew if she didn't stop bleeding soon, the same fate would be for that couch.

She lifted a hand to her ear, the blood had dried up.

With every move she made, her body screamed at her to stop. Clementine knew she had pushed her young self more than she had ever before. It seemed like she couldn't catch a break. All she wanted to do was sleep for a day, was that too much to ask?

* * *

"Hey, you're not falling asleep on me again?"

Clementine's eyes shot open and she jumped startled by the sudden voice. She sighed, as she realized Ronnie had returned, he wasn't alone however, there was a woman standing a little ways behind him.

"Tired?" Ronnie asked.

The girl could sense the humor in his voice. "A little." She said quietly.

"I'm sure you could use some rest." Ronnie smiled, "We got a nice comfy bed for you. Right in your room."

"My room?" Clementine repeated.

"That's right." He grinned.

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" The woman scoffed from behind him.

Clementine couldn't help the feeling of unease she got being around these people.

"Oh, right..." Ronnie said.

"Oh, right..." The woman echoed, rolling her eyes. She moved closer to the couch and offered Clementine a smile, "Hi, Sweetie."

"Hi." Clementine said.

"I'm Cheryl." She said in a kind voice, "What's your name?"

"C-Clementine." The girl responded.

"Nice to meet you, Clementine." The woman held out a hand to shake hers.

Clementine politely shook hands with the woman, "You t-too."

"I hear you hurt your leg pretty bad?" Cheryl said.

Clementine looked down to her bleeding leg, "Yeah."

"How about we get that fixed up and then you can go play?" Cheryl continued to speak in that sing-song voice.

Their happy-go-lucky ways of speaking and their kind smiles, that seemed to be forced, only made Clementine more wary of the two. Not that she could do much. They seemed nice enough as they were offering to fix up her injured leg, but you never knew who you could trust.

"We have a little girl like you. Did Ronnie tell you that?" Cheryl asked.

"Yes." Clementine nodded.

"She's a sweet little girl." Cheryl said, "Bet you're sweet too."

"I'm not." Clementine sighed.

"What makes you say that?" Cheryl asked her.

Clementine bit her lip before speaking. "I'm not a good person...People die because of me."

"I find that hard to believe." Ronnie said.

"It's the truth." Clementine replied. "Everyone I know is gone... I'm all alone now."

"Of course, you're not. You can stay here with us." Cheryl offered.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Clementine backtracked quickly.

"No. You're right." Ronnie started.

Clementine looked to him waiting for him to continue.

"It's a great idea." He said.

"But-" Clementine started to protest.

He stopped her from speaking, "We wouldn't want you to go back out there alone."

"It's okay. I can handle myself." Clementine claimed. That was hardly true, she was just barely making it on her own. She knew that.

"You should stay. No one will harm you in here." Cheryl said.

"You wouldn't have to worry about people chasing you either." Ronnie added.

Clementine bit her lower lip, not giving a response.

"I guess you can think about it." Cheryl uttered, noticing the girl's silence. "By no means are we going to force you to stay."

"I...I-"

"It's okay, sweetheart." Cheryl hushed her. "Hey, I'm sure you're in a good deal of pain. Let's get that leg fixed up and then you can rest a bit."

"Okay." Clementine agreed.

The little girl clenched her eyes shut and would wince every so often as Cheryl begin to work on her leg.

"How old are you?" Cheryl asked the young girl.

"N-Nine." Clementine stammered through her pain.

"Oh? You're a big girl then? I thought you were younger." Cheryl said.

"Me too." Ronnie said, "I figured seven or eight."

"I just turned nine." Clementine told them.

"Really?" Cheryl asked.

"Yeah."

"Our girl will be nine in a few months or so." Ronnie said before asking, "When's your birthday."

"In October." Clementine informed.

"October what?" Ronnie asked.

"27th." Clementine replied.

"So, you're a Scorpio?" Ronnie smiled, "I'm a Libra.

Clementine furrowed her brows, "What's that?"

"Don't mind him." Cheryl spoke, "He's into zodiac signs. Fortune telling and that crap."

"It's not crap." Ronnie defended. "Just because you don't believe in that stuff doesn't mean it's stupid. What do you think Clementine?"

"I don't know much about it." Clementine shrugged.

"I see. Maybe you'd like to learn?" He said.

"I guess I wouldn't mind." Clementine replied.

He offered her a smile.

A silence fell over them again before Ronnie spoke once more, "You like toys?"

"Yes..." Clementine admit.

"We have a whole bunch. So many toys." Ronnie grinned to the child.

"Really?" Clementine's eyes brightened.

"Yep. Right upstairs." He motioned towards the steps with his thumb.

"That's cool." Clementine giggled.

"Well, I think we're done here." Cheryl said, straighten up.

Clementine looked down at her leg that was now wrapped in an ace bandage.

"Try not to move around on it too much." Cheryl said.

Clementine nodded.

The woman started to exit the room, but not before she looked to Ronnie, "Linda would've _loved_ her. I can tell she'll be good."

"Have to agree with you there." Ronnie replied.

Clementine tilted her head in confusion as Cheryl walked from the room. Ronnie turned to her and put on his overused smile.

"You got to go to the bathroom?"

* * *

"You done?" Ronnie asked from outside the door.

"Yes." Clementine called.

Ronnie entered the bathroom and examined the child.

"You're all dirty...how about we get you cleaned up?" Ronnie suggested, sitting the girl on the toilet.

"Okay." Clementine looked down at her clothes before agreeing.

Ronnie grabbed a rag and turned to the sink.

"You guys have water?" Clementine inquired.

"Yep. It's cold, but water is water." Ronnie replied.

He places the rag under the faucet, dousing it with water. He wrung the rag out before using the wet cloth to wipe the dirt and blood from the little girl's face and arms.

He reached for her hat and Clementine's hand immediately grabbed his, surprising him.

"It's okay..." He said, gently, removing her hat from her head. He used the rap to wipe her hair, combing his fingers through the tangled mess, before he placed the rag down.

"That'll do for now. We'll get you a bath tomorrow." He said.

Clementine nodded. A bath sounded so nice right now, but she knew it was late.

"Hey, take off your clothes." Ronnie suddenly said.

Clementine looked surprised, "What? W-Why?"

"They're all dirty. Don't you want us to clean them?" Ronnie was wearing his smile again.

"I...I guess..." Clementine muttered.

"Good. So, take them off." He said. "It'll be okay."

"What will I wear until then?" Clementine asked.

"You'll be fine, you don't need any clothes." Ronnie replied.

"But-"

Ronnie cut her off. "Adam and Eve didn't have clothes."

"My parents said no one's supposed to see the swimsuit parts of my body." Clementine voiced.

"Yeah. Your parents are right. But what about doctors?" Ronnie asked.

Clementine hummed thoughtfully, "That's different."

"Mm-hm." Ronnie nodded. "And Cheryl's a doctor."

"She is?" Clementine asked.

"She fixed you up, didn't she?" Ronnie pointed out.

"Yes...but what about you?" The girl questioned.

"Well, I'm not a doctor, but I helped out. So that makes me a nurse." He replied.

"Oh...Okay then." Clementine breathed through her nose. "But...Bart...?"

"He won't even look, don't worry about him." Ronnie reassured.

Clementine looked at the man for a moment, not moving.

"Go on." Ronnie said with a comforting smile, "Take them off."

Clementine hesitated.

"Go on." Ronnie urged.

The girl gave in, she slowly lifted her hoody over her head.

"Let me help you with that." Ronnie held to strip her the rest of the way.

Clementine felt her stomach flipping as the man pulled her clothes off. Clementine tensed as his hand came to the band of her underwear.

"Panties too." Ronnie said, noticing her stiffness

"I...but-"

"We're only going to wash them." Ronnie said, sliding them down her hips.

Clementine felt sick, she covered herself quickly.

"No need to be shy." Ronnie told her.

She was starting to feel uncomfortable. She watches Ronnie exit the bathroom with her clothes.

She hoped they would hurry up and wash them and she could get them back soon.

"It's cold..." Clementine complained.

"You'll have a blanket when you get upstairs." Ronnie said, carrying her from the bathroom. "You hungry?"

"A bit," Clementine said.

Ronnie placed her down on the couch. "Sit here for a minute. I'll get you some food."

* * *

Clementine sat on the couch patiently, when she heard what sounded like a car driving on the gravelly road. She noticed a bright light shining from behind her.

Ignoring the pain in her leg, she forces herself to her good knee and leaned over the couch to look out the window. It was dark outside and the light was too blinding to look into for too long.

All she knew was there was a car out there. "Ronnie!" She yelled.

"Yeah?" The man called back.

"There's someone outside." She said.

"Don't worry about it!" Ronnie yelled to her.

"But my clothes! I need them!" She said frantically.

Ronnie's response was, "You don't need any clothes kid, just be a good girl and sit tight."

Clementine swallowed, daring to peer back out the window, looking into blinding headlights. The lights were too bright to make out anything, and right when the child was about the give up she heard the car door open and slam shut.

At that point the lights had flickered off and Clementine had to narrow her eyes to see through. After a moment, her eyes widened in fear as she saw a car. A familiar car.

She ducked down on the couch, hoping they hadn't heard her. She had to hide. She practically tossed herself onto the floor, her leg screaming at her the entire time. She managed to limp her way to a closet but right before she could get inside, the front door opened, at the same time Ronnie returned from the kitchen.

"Fucking kid got away-"

They stopped, all eyes on her. Clementine was trembling in fear.

Ronnie finally broke the silence, "Clementine?"

"So, we meet again," One of the men who had entered the house smirked.

The nine-year-old pointed a shaking finger towards the group of men. Eyes wide and sweat dripping down her neck, her lips trembled as she spoke, "Those are the guys who chased me."


	7. Chapter 7

_**Thanks to gaara of the sand for the proofreading.**_

 _ **Warning: Implied rape.**_

* * *

Clementine stood frozen for a moment, the men staring at her with cold gazes, before one of them started walking towards her.

Clementine panicked as she realized she no longer had any of her weapons. "Stay away! Stop!"

"Leave the girl alone." Ronnie spoke in a firm voice.

Clementine was shocked.

Ronnie slowly walked over to her, "There there, sweetie." He pulled her into a hug, "Everything will be okay."

He waited a few moments for her to calm down before kneeling to her level. "What happened, Clementine?"

"Those are the guys who chased me! That's the same car outside!" Clementine exclaimed, hoping Ronnie would protect her. "They wanted to kill me."

"Relax, kid. I'm sure that's not the case." Ronnie looked to the other men.

One of them spoke, "Little bitch kept running from us."

"Shush!" Ronnie snapped. "It's okay, I promise no one here is going to hurt you. They probably only wanted to help."

"He swore at me. They didn't sound nice." Clementine whimpered.

"We'll that's just Cliff for ya." Ronnie said. "Has to put on a tough guy act, but he wouldn't hurt a fly." Ronnie told the little girl. "Ain't that right, Clifford? Who could with a name like that?" He chuckled causing the man, Clifford to scoff and leave the room.

Ronnie smiled to the little girl, "You're safe here. Don't you trust me?"

"I...I guess." Clementine sniffled. "It was just scary."

"I bet, how rude of them." Ronnie cooed, pulling her up into his arms.

Clementine suddenly got an uneasy feeling in her stomach. "Can I have my clothes back?"

"They're already in the wash, sweetie." Ronnie replied. "How about I take you to play with Danielle?"

"But-"

Ronnie cut her off. "Don't worry, her clothes are in the wash as well."

"Oh..." Clementine mumbled. "Um...Okay."

* * *

"Sweetheart," Ronnie called from the bottom of the stairs, "I'm coming up!" He started up the steps with Clementine in his arms. "I brought you a friend."

The little girl, Danielle, didn't respond, she didn't even glance in their direction.

"Her name's Clementine." Ronnie continued. "Danielle, why don't you play with Clementine for a while?"

Danielle still said nothing.

Ronnie smiled, setting Clementine down on one of the small twin beds that sat in the room. "I'll leave you two alone."

Clementine heard the man walked down the steps, and then she heard the door shut and she swore she heard it lock. She was confused; why would they lock the door?

Clementine sat on the bed and sighed. She had a feeling she was going to be there for a while. She looked across the room to the other bed where the other girl, Danielle laid, a blanket covering her.

"Hey." Clementine called gently. "You're Danielle, right?"

The girl didn't offer her a response.

Clementine felt a bit awkward being in the silent room. She decided to leave the other girl be, she was probably trying to sleep and Clementine was bothering her.

Clementine looked around the room, it was dark, almost pitch black minus a candle that sat on a tiny night stand in the middle of the room, between beds.

Clementine placed her hat on the floor beside her, hoping nobody would accidentally step on it.

She sat silently in the dark room, shivering from the cold.

Eventually she fell asleep.

She slept a dreamless sleep, and when she woke the sun was shining through the window. She sat up in her bed, keeping the blanket wrapped around her small body.

She looked around, the light shining in the room finally allowing her to take in her surroundings.

The area was large and there were a few books and many toys filling the room. Each toy in the room was something that would please any little girl, to make them feel welcome in the place.

Clementine looked to the other side of the room, eyes falling on the other little girl who hadn't moved from her spot.

Clementine pushed herself off the bed carefully and limped her way over to the other girl, using the nightstand for support. "Hey?" She gently called, "Are you awake?"

There was once again, no response.

Clementine sat on the foot of the younger girl's bed, "Hey-"

"Go away." Danielle finally spoke, voice so quiet Clementine barely heard it.

"I just wanted to talk..." Clementine replied. "You're Danielle, right?"

"What's it to you?" The girl asked.

Clementine felt a pang of hurt, "I just thought maybe we could be friends."

"I don't need any friends." Danielle replied, not even looking to her.

"But-"

Danielle cut her off, snapping, "Just go away, would you?!"

Clementine sighed and slid off the bed, she limped her way back to her own bed and laid on it and tried to force herself back to sleep.

After a few minutes she gave up and sat up.

She spotted some paper and crayons on the floor and used her good foot to move it towards her, until it was close enough for her to reach down and grab.

She started doodling, drawing anything she could think of, from a butterfly to a puppy dog, it didn't matter. It had been so long since she had been able to draw like this.

After about fifteen minutes or so, she looked up to see Danielle was now seated upright and was watching her curiously. However, the younger girl didn't say anything so Clementine didn't bother trying to force conversation.

It wasn't long before Clementine heard the door unlock and open. She looked over to Danielle, who quickly laid down pretending to be asleep.

Clementine watched in confusion, as she heard someone make their way up the stairs.

"Alright, ladies! Good morning!" Ronnie exclaimed cheerfully. "It's bath-time, kids."

* * *

Clementine watched silently as Ronnie undid the bandages around her leg.

"We'll wrap this back up after you get all clean." Ronnie said.

"Okay..." Clementine said.

"Alright," Ronnie said. "In you go." He settled the girl into the tub, propping her leg up on the side on the tub. He turned to face Danielle, "Go on, hop in."

Danielle didn't respond as she climbed into the water.

"Do you guys need any more hot water?" Ronnie asked.

"No." Danielle said in the same quiet, barely there voice.

"I wasn't talking to you Danielle. I was asking our guest." Ronnie replied.

Clementine looked to him. "...No."

"Okay. Well, you two get cleaned up." Ronnie said.

"The water's warm..." Clementine muttered.

"What's that?" Ronnie asked, leaning closer to the child.

"You said you only had cold water." Clementine said.

Ronnie sighed, "Yeah. Well we boil some water and pour it into the tub. That mixes with the cold and makes it warm."

"Oh..." Clementine mumbled.

"Yeah..." Ronnie said then turned to look at Danielle, "Hey, how about I wash your hair?"

"No!" Danielle cried, "I mean...I can do it..."

"Oh...?" Ronnie replied. "You're a big girl; I see."

Danielle started to scrub at her hair.

Ronnie looked to Clementine. "Want me to wash your back?"

"I'll wash her back." Danielle offered. "I can do it for her."

"That's awful kind of you." Ronnie smiled. "Well, I'll leave you two be." Ronnie stood, drying his hands on the towel.

They heard the door shut as he exited the bathroom.

The girls sat in silence for a while, before Clementine finally called, "Danielle, are you okay?"

Danielle didn't answer, she just soaped up her rag silently.

"Danielle-"

"Turn around so I can wash your back." Danielle ordered.

"Umm..." Clementine started nervously.

Danielle just stared at her expectantly, waiting. Clementine finally did so, turning the best she could with her leg propped as it was. She felt the warm water spill over her back as Danielle carefully washed it for her.

"Thanks..." Clementine said once the younger girl had finished.

Danielle once again opted not to respond.

"I can wash your back too." Clementine offered.

"No." Danielle quickly shook her head.

"Why not?" Clementine asked.

"If you want to talk to me, do it when we get to the room." Danielle replied.

Clementine was confused, but didn't respond. Another silence fell over the girls but was soon broken by the door opening.

Both children turned to look to the door. There stood Cheryl with a bright smile.

"You girls done?" The woman asked.

Clementine gave a nod.

"Alright, let's get you two out and get your hair and teeth brushed." The woman said.

* * *

Clementine was sitting on the living room couch, Danielle was sat at the dining room table, quiet as usual. Clementine sat as quietly as she could as the woman fought through the tangles in her hair.

Cheryl let out a sigh, "I think we're done." She gave the girl a pat on the back.

"Where are my clothes?" Clementine asked.

"What clothes?" Cheryl asked.

"The ones you guys said you'd wash." Clementine replied furrowing her brows.

"Oh, those filthy things. We got rid of them." Cheryl shrugged.

Clementine's eyes widened. "What?"

"They were a mess. And they smelt bad, you didn't want to wear them." Cheryl replied.

"But... But they were the only clothes I had." Clementine said.

"Who cares, you don't need clothes. Not like you got anything to hide." Cheryl responded.

Clementine was fighting back tears at this point.

Cheryl was quiet for a minute. "Let me wrap your leg." She moved in front of the girl, looking at the child's broken leg. "Swelling has gone down some." She said. She gently started wrapping it.

"Hey, the girls are clean?" Ronnie asked from the kitchen.

"Squeaky clean." Cheryl called back.

"How about some breakfast?" Ronnie entered the room carrying two plates. Each containing eggs and three crackers. He placed them down on the table.

Cheryl pulled Clementine up once she was done with her leg and carried the child to the table, sitting her beside Danielle.

"Well, say your prayers and eat up, girls." Cheryl said.

Neither child spoke.

"Here," Ronnie took a seat by Clementine, "I'll help you. God, bless this food. We are grateful for it. And bless our home and everyone in it. And please look out for Danielle's mother. We hope they can see each other soon."

Danielle shot the man a glare which he ignored.

"Amen." Ronnie said. "Go on, eat up." He looked towards Clementine and commented, "You look like you haven't eaten in a week."

Clementine stared down at the plate for a moment before looking to Danielle, who had already started eating.

Clementine started to eat her food, feeling a little embarrassed as Ronnie watched them.

"Thirsty?" Ronnie asked.

Clementine nodded.

Ronnie stood up and moved to the kitchen returning minutes later with two glasses of water, the second he placed them down Danielle spoke, "I'm done."

"Oh? Okay, you can go on back up to your room. We don't need you today." Ronnie said.

Danielle left without another word.

Clementine looked to the other girl's plate and noticed the food had barely been touched. She wonders for a while if Danielle was sick, there was clearly something wrong with the girl.

She couldn't bring herself to ask as she continued with her meal.

* * *

Clementine didn't understand why they had to stay in their room. Nor did she understand why the door was always locked. She had come to realize she didn't understand a lot of things and she had only been there for a day. She sat up on the bed, once again in that uncomfortable silence, wondering these things.

Finally, she looked to Danielle, who was back in her same position. "Danielle,"

The little girl of course, didn't respond.

Clementine forced herself back over to the girl's bed like earlier that morning,

"Are you awake?" Clementine asked.

Danielle sighed and rolled over to look at Clementine. "Yes?"

"Why'd they take our clothes?" Clementine nonchalantly asked.

Danielle immediately got red faced and huffed, "Get away."

"W-What?" Clementine stammered, confusion spread across her face.

"Go away."

Hurt flashed in Clementine's eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Forget it." Danielle muttered, "They'd just make us take them off anyway."

"Why?" Clementine furrowed her brows.

Danielle didn't respond.

"How come you're so quiet?" Clementine asked.

"Oh sorry. I didn't realize I had to answer to you." Danielle responded with a huff.

"That's not what I meant..." Clementine pressed her lips in a thin line. "You don't have to be mean...I just want to talk to you."

"Well maybe I don't want to talk." Danielle replied.

"Fine...Whatever." Clementine forced herself back up and stumbled to her bed. She plopped down onto it. "Ignore me all you want. I won't stay here long anyway." Clementine stated.

"You say that now." Danielle replied.

"What do you mean?" Clementine asked.

"You'll see." Danielle said.

"Tell me..." Clementine begged.

"Just leave me alone." Danielle started to bury her head under her pillow.

"Danielle, wait!" Clementine quickly called.

Danielle let out a sigh, "Why?"

"I'm sorry...for being so pushy." Clementine said, rubbing her arm sheepishly.

"Yeah right." The younger girl huffed.

"No really." Clementine spoke, "Let's start over. Please?"

Danielle was quiet for a bit then looked to her, sitting up, "Fine. We can at least try to tolerate each other."

"Okay." Clementine nodded.

"But, that doesn't mean we're friends." Danielle told her.

"Yeah. Okay." Clementine didn't mind. She was just happy the girl was talking to her. Friendship could come later.

* * *

The day continued in a similar fashion as the early morning, Clementine spent a majority of it drawing, while Danielle laid in her bed quietly.

Eventually Danielle sparked up a conversation with Clementine for a change, asking the girl what she was drawing. Clementine invited her to come over to her bed so she could show her.

Danielle did so.

Clementine showed the younger girl all her drawings. Danielle complimented them, saying she wished she could draw like that.

Clementine replied by saying, "Maybe I could teach you."

"Really?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah, sure." Clementine said. "Why not? How about tomorrow?" Clementine offered.

"Sure." Danielle agreed. "It can get really boring again here."

Clementine smiled.

Danielle didn't return the smile. She couldn't. She was in a severe depression and she couldn't break out of it, but Clementine had no idea why.

* * *

The two girls spend the rest of the day drawing and looking at picture books together.

They tried to read one of the harder looking books, but grew frustrated as the words were too difficult for both children, instead they created their own story.

By the time they had finished with their story it was starting to get later. Danielle informed Clementine that if she looked out the window she could watch the sunset.

After that the two sat on Clementine's bed, watching the sunset from the window.

As it got later, Clementine realized she was starting to get hungry. She was starving. "I'm hungry."

"Me too." Danielle admits.

"You didn't eat much earlier." Clementine pointed out.

"I ate as much as I could." Danielle shrugged.

"Really?" Clementine asked in surprise.

"Yeah."

"When are they going to feed us?" Clementine questioned.

"Probably not until tomorrow." Danielle replied.

"Why?" Clementine asked.

"They say we shouldn't eat too much. Only a little a day." Danielle explained. "They'll only feed us once."

"Just once?!" Clementine exclaimed in disbelief.

"Hush." Danielle quickly looked towards the door before replying. "Yes. Just once."

The two didn't talk much after that and nobody ever came to offer them food.

* * *

Danielle woke to the sound of the door opening. Startled, her eyes shot open and she froze, pulling a hand in front of her mouth, trying to keep quiet.

She could hear Clementine's soft breathing that informed her that the girl was asleep.

Paralyzed with fear, she closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she anxiously listened to someone making their way up the stairs. She could hear the floorboard creak under their weight.

She cracked her eyes open enough to see the figure of a man. She held back a scream as the figure approached her bed. They stood there for a moment, perhaps checking that she was asleep, then made their way towards the new girl's bed.

Danielle watched as the figure took Clementine into their arms and begin to carry her out of the room.

Danielle looked away, fully aware of the horror that girl was about to go through.

She listened, staying silent until she heard the door shut and a few seconds later lock, and she was left alone in the darkness.

* * *

The sound of a door slamming shut dragged Clementine from what felt to her like the deepest sleep ever.

The girl's eyes fluttered open. A shot of fear ran through her as she recognized the fact that she was in an unknown location.

She was laid on a large bed in the middle of a dark room. She could hear movement around the darkened room and soon she saw the light of a candle. She looked to the figure behind the light, "Ronnie?"

"Hey there, sweetie." The man smiled.

"Where am I?" Clementine asked.

"It's alright, baby girl." Ronnie hushed, placing the candle on the table beside the bed.

"What's going on?" She sat up and could see Ronnie working on the buckle of his pants and watched in confusion. "What are you doing?"

"Just hush." Ronnie crawled onto the bed. "I'm going to give you a surprise."

"What?" She asked, not knowing what he meant.

Ronnie didn't answer.

Clementine's eyes widened, as the man shoved her down.

Within seconds he was over top of her. Clementine cried in pain as he pressed against her broken leg, but he only told her to shut up. Ronnie was no longer the nice guy he made himself out to be.

Clementine tried to fight, but it was no use.

Tears of pain flowed down her cheeks as she begged for someone to help her. Help never came.

The night continued in cries of pain and fear. Each time Clementine thought it was over and she was left alone the door would open once more and Clementine would be subjected to touches and other things from the evil men.

At some point she passed out, only to wake up and find a man on top of her. "Not gonna run now, are you?" The man hissed in her ear.

She quickly recognized his voice, but she couldn't do anything except scream.

Each time the door would open, she tried to focus on something else.

Finally, the door opened one last time, before slamming shut. The candle had blown out and the only light was that of the moon shining through the window

Clementine laid on the bed, shivers running through her body. She curled up into a tight ball and cried.

She didn't understand what had happened, all she knew was that night, her innocence was stolen.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Thanks to gaara king of the sand for all the help.**_

* * *

Clementine heard the door open and she jumped, quickly yanking the blanket over her head.

"How was she?"

Clementine's eye grew wide. That was Cheryl's voice.

"Screamed a lot." A male voice, Clementine quickly recognized as Bart.

"Had to expect her to." Cheryl said.

Clementine was trembling in fear as she heard footsteps approaching the bed. She let out a terrified yelp as someone yanked the blanket away from her.

Cheryl was standing at the side of the bed with a smile on her face, Bart beside her.

Clementine's eye filled with tears and she started to beg, "Please don't hurt me. Please!"

Cheryl took a seat beside the young girl who flinched away. "Shh..." She started to stroke the child's hair. "It's okay."

Clementine focused her teary eyes on the woman. Calming down a little.

"That's it." Cheryl muttered, still rubbing the girl's curly hair. "Just relax."

Suddenly the woman moved her hands from Clementine's head and instead took a hold of the child's wrist.

Clementine took a moment to realize that the woman was now restraining her.

The girl started to struggle as she noticed Bart inching toward the bed. "NO!" She screamed.

Cheryl only threw a hand over her mouth forcing the child's cries to become muffled.

* * *

Clementine had tears going down her face as Bart finished.

Cheryl rubbed over the little girl's face. "Shh...I know it hurts." The woman spoke as if she hadn't just held the girl down. "Try to sleep, sweetie."

Clementine was barely conscious at that point and soon enough she completely passed out.

When she woke up she could feel someone rubbing her hair. "No more!" She shrieked. "Please don't hurt me anymore!"

"Hush..." Ronnie stared down into the girl's frightened eyes. "Don't be afraid, sweetie. The pain is over."

Clementine closed her eyes, not wanting to see the man's face. The man, who had promised no one would hurt her, only to hurt her himself.

"I'm going to take you to your room, sweetie."

Clementine didn't respond.

The man gently picked the child up. Clementine made sure to keep her eyes shut the entire way.

She soon felt him place her on her bed and she curled up, not moving.

Once she was sure he was gone she started to cry.

Danielle looked over to the other girl's bed as Clementine was sobbing uncontrollable. She wondered if she should go comfort the girl, but she decided against it. Instead she looked away, burying her head under the pillow, trying to escape the noise.

* * *

The room was quiet. It had been a few hours since Clementine returned to the room.

Danielle had fallen asleep while trying to pretend she didn't hear Clementine's cries.

She wondered how the other girl was doing. Danielle looked over to Clementine who had stopped crying and was now just lying on the bed clutching a blue and white cap to her chest.

Danielle stood and walked over to Clementine's bed. She sat on beside the girl for a moment.

Clementine looked at her a bit uncomfortable. The two hadn't spoken much since she first arrived.

The girls met eyes for a moment. There was a flash of sad silent acknowledgement as they stared at each other, both aware of what was happening.

In that they understood each other better than they understood themselves.

Danielle gave her a very tiny smile in attempt to reassure her.

Clementine was a bit surprised, she had been convinced Danielle couldn't smile.

"Hey." Danielle spoke quietly.

"Hi..." Clementine replied.

"Are you okay?"

Clementine didn't respond.

Danielle sighed and stood up, Clementine stopped her by grabbing her wrist causing the little girl flinched.

"You don't have to go." Clementine said quickly.

Danielle sat back beside the girl. "I like your hat." She gently commented.

"T-Thank you." Clementine sniffled.

"What happened to your leg?" Danielle asked.

"They were chasing me..." Clementine muttered.

Danielle looked confused as she questioned, "Who?"

"Those guys..." Clementine sniffed. "I tried to get away. I was in a car, but it crashed."

"You drove?" The other girl asked in disbelief.

"Kind of." Clementine explained. "Didn't get very far."

"Oh...It looks like it hurts..."

"It hurt a lot more when it happened." Clementine replied. And when those guys were on top of her.

"Wanna draw?" Danielle offered, picking up a piece of paper and the box of crayons.

"I can't. It hurts to move." Clementine muttered.

"Oh..." Danielle nodded in understanding, "Well, how about we make up a story again?"

"Sure." Clementine agreed.

* * *

The girls spend the morning talking, enjoying each other's company, but all too soon the door opened. Danielle's eyes widened and she ran towards her bed, pretending to be asleep like the day before.

Clementine picked up on this and did the same.

"Time to eat, ladies." A cheerful voice called.

The girls stay quiet and Ronnie started up the stairs.

"Girls, rise and shine." Ronnie called.

The two children didn't move.

"Alright...Don't say I didn't offer." He grumbled, leaving the room.

Clementine looked over to Danielle. "Is he mad?" She whispered.

"I don't know." Danielle whispered back.

* * *

The next day it was Danielle's turn to cry. Clementine had woken up early in the morning to the girl choking back sobs and immediately figured that those men had hurt her last night.

"Danielle?" She called. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Danielle claimed, but the tears falling from her eyes said otherwise.

"Then why are you crying?" Clementine pestered on.

"W-What?"

"Why are you crying?" Clementine repeated.

Danielle was silent for a few moments before speaking. "...Bart told me my mommy is dead."

Clementine looked to the girl, part of her wanted to question "Is she?", but she knew that would have been a mistake. Instead she let out a sigh, "Don't worry about them...They're stupid."

Danielle let out a few more whimpers before mumbling. "I know..."

Clementine waited for the girl to calm down to a point of speaking then asked her a question, "Where is your mom?"

"I don't know." Danielle replied sadly.

"Why aren't you with her?" Clementine asked.

"Because she was sick. So, she asked them to care for me for a bit... at least that's what they said." Danielle mumbled.

"What was she sick with?"

"I don't know." Danielle said honestly. "She didn't look sick...But after they took me, they told me that my mom asked them to take care of me for a while. She was crying when they took me."

Clementine waited for her to continue.

"They said it was just because she was going to miss me." Danielle softly added. "I miss her too."

"I'm sure..." Clementine sighed.

"What about you? Where's your mom?" Danielle asked her.

"She's in Savannah." Clementine mumbled.

"Where's that?"

"Far from here." Clementine answered.

"Oh. Why aren't you with her?" Danielle asked.

"Cause...she's dead." Clementine said.

"Oh. I'm sorry, Clementine."

"It's not your fault." Clementine put on her brave face and gave a shrug.

"I'm sorry I asked." Danielle replied.

"Well, I asked first so I'm sorry too." Clementine said.

Danielle laid down, looking to the ceiling. "I want my mom. I don't want to be in this mean place."

Clementine nodded. "I know how you feel."

"No, you don't."

"I do. I promise. I want my family back too. I saw my parents..." Clementine trailed off, looking towards the ceiling as well.

Danielle frowned, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Clementine gave a small smile. "Let's practice drawing."

Danielle gave a nod. "Okay."

* * *

Clementine couldn't understand why those people wanted to make them cry. She didn't get how grown-ups could be so mean.

No matter how much she told them it hurt they wouldn't stop. They'd just tell her to shut up while they continued to hurt her. Then when they were finished with her, they'd practically toss her back in the attic, like a broken toy.

"Don't cry, Clementine." Danielle said softly to the girl while she wrapped her arms around the weeping child.

"Why are they doing this to us?" Clementine asked.

"I don't know." Danielle said. "...It won't hurt as bad soon."

"I don't want to do it anymore." Clementine cried.

"I know..." Was the soft reply.

* * *

The next few days were the same. The two girls took turns comforting each other. Danielle would come back and be quiet and withdrawn while Clementine would cry until she had no tears left to cry.

By a week Clementine was starting to understand the unspoken rules. If she screamed, she'd get beat. If she fought, she'd get beat. She was allowed to cry, but that was all. They expected her to sit there and allow them to use her as they pleased.

"Clementine?" Danielle called from her bed. "What are you drawing?"

"Our secret club house." Clementine responded, not looking up from the paper.

"We have one?" Danielle asked.

"Of course."

Danielle walked to the other girl's bed, lying beside her so she could see the picture. "Where is it?"

Clementine pointed to the picture. "Right here."

"Oh... It's pretty, Clementine."

Clementine looked to the younger girl, "Not Clementine. Just call me Clem."

"Okay." Danielle nodded. "And you call me Dani."

"Alright." Clementine agreed, "Those are our secret name for each other. Nobody knows them but us."

"Okay."

"And we'll make a secret club for real." Clementine said.

"Like that one?" Danielle pointed to the picture.

"Not exactly...but close to it." Clementine replied.

"Okay." Danielle nodded. "When?"

"How about now?" Clementine suggested.

"Sure."

With that Danielle helped Clementine up and the started to create their "secret club". They used their beds as well as the windowsill to hang blankets and soon enough they had made their own fort.

"This is our secret club. Nobody can come in here." Clementine stated.

"Right. They'll have to get pass the guards first." Danielle said, motioning to two stuff animals they had placed outside of their club and stationed by the staircase.

"Mm-hm..." Clementine agreed with a tiny smile.

Clementine and Danielle were quickly forming a bond like no other. They felt closer to each other than anyone.

* * *

"The water's getting cold." Danielle complained as Clementine washed over her back, she finally had agreed to let the girl do so.

"Yeah." Clementine agreed. "Let's hurry up and get out."

"You all clean?" Cheryl smiled her happy-go-lucky smile. "Great. Nobody likes dirty little girls."

The two girls just stayed silent.

"Come on, let's get your hair and teeth brushed." Cheryl said.

This was the everyday routine. The two children would wake up, play for a while and they be taken downstairs for a bath. Later that day they would have breakfast as it was the "most important meal of the day" as well as their only meal of the day.

Then they would be sent back upstairs until somebody would come and take them from the room.

Danielle would comply with the adults, but Clementine still had much fight in her.

"Let go of me!" The girl cried.

"You're not gonna boss me, girl." Cheryl said to the little girl. "Keep fighting and you'll be sorry."

"I'm not Danielle. I'll hit you back!" Clementine snapped.

Danielle looked over surprised when she heard Clementine snap.

"Say it again." Cheryl voiced.

"You don't scare me." Clementine huffed.

"Oh, you'll be scared. You'll be scared alright." The woman said, reaching to a table and grabbing at wooden paddle. "Get upstairs." She said to Danielle who hesitated. "NOW!"

Danielle quickly rushed from the room and Cheryl turned towards little Clementine.

Clementine watched on in fear.

"You're stubborn. You're not like other children." Cheryl said.

"I'm not like them because I'm not them!" Clementine responded.

"Don't use that tone with me." Cheryl said. "Unless need to be punished again."

"Just let me go. I don't know what I did wrong..." Clementine said. She was hurting all over, she hated this place.

"Hush... we can't let you go sweetie." Cheryl hugged the child, but Clementine didn't cry. She couldn't cry.

* * *

Clementine and Danielle sat silently at the table looking to the food that Clifford had placed on the table for them.

As Clementine looked at what little food was on the plate she felt her stomach growl she looked around and noticed Clifford had left the entire bag of crackers on the table.

Clementine glanced to the kitchen, making sure he wasn't watching before she reached for one of the crackers.

Danielle glanced over to the older girl wondering what she was doing.

Clementine took the cracker and placed it on the chair she was seated on. She then reached for another one.

Danielle started to do the same.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Clifford approached the young girls, yanking the crackers from their tiny hands and crushing them in front of the children.

"Did I tell you to eat yet?" He spat.

"No..." Danielle whispered.

"You don't fucking listen." He huffed. "Neither of you."

Clementine swallowed nervously looking away.

"You should know fucking better by now!" He snapped at Danielle.

"Leave her alone!" Clementine snapped.

"I wasn't talking to you, brat!"

"I don't like yelling..." Clementine replied.

"You don't like yelling? Is this better for you sweetie?" He scoffed. "I should beat your fucking asses!" The man threatened angrily.

Danielle bit back a sigh at the yell, but Clementine looked like she wasn't used to being yelled at. Her little face reddened and her eyes got huge. She looked frightened.

Clifford just continued on thundering at the children.

Clementine's eyes filled with tears that she tried to fight, but she couldn't. She began to cry.

"What are you, two?! Fucking crybaby." He growled. "Get upstairs."

"She can't." Danielle reminded. "Her leg."

The man sighed and yanked the child up carrying her upstairs her dropped her on her bed before storming out the room slamming the door.

Clementine was desperately trying to calm herself.

"Don't worry." Danielle consoled her. "He's just stupid."

Clementine nodded allowing the girl to hug her. "Dani..."

"Yes?" Danielle responded.

"Are we friends?" The girl sniffed.

"The best of friends." Danielle said.

"That's good." Clementine took the younger girl's hand in her own and the two lay on the bed silently, thankful for each other's presence.


	9. Chapter 9

**_Thanks to my partner in crime, gaara king of the sand for all the help._**

It had been two days of no food.

The girls had spent those two days forming a plan as they were being forced to go hungry.

Now, having been called for breakfast, it was time to put that plan into action.

"Playing dress up today?" Ronnie asked with a smile, motion towards the play purses the girls were carrying around, and the fake tiaras on their heads.

Clementine smiled back giving a nod.

"I...umm, I have to pee." Danielle spoke suddenly in a small voice.

"Really?" Ronnie sighed, "Fine." He waited for the girl to stand. "Come on."

Clementine waited for him to lead Danielle to the bathroom then started to pack the little purse full of all the food she could fit into it.

She sat in silence for a little while before Bart entered the room and noticed her, "You're done with breakfast?"

Clementine nodded.

"Y'all must've been hungry, ate all your food." Bart said, looking to the empty plates. "Alright, let's get you upstairs."

"I...I can do it." Clementine declared.

"Oh?" Bart raised a brow. "Okay."

Clementine pulled herself from her chair and limped her way to the attic. She was thankful for the banister as she used it to get up the staircase. Not too long later Danielle arrived.

"What did you get?" Danielle asked her.

"A lot." Clementine responded, plopping down on her bed, she opened up the tiny purse. "Look."

"Wow... We could make this last for a few days." Danielle commented.

"Yeah. We just have to make sure they don't find out." Clementine said.

"How do we do that?" Danielle asked.

"We'll just hide it under the bed if someone comes." Clementine replied.

"Okay. Good idea."

The two spent the next few days trading on who would "have to use the bathroom" at breakfast. The little girls were actually happy that their plan was going well. They now had a good amount of food which they made sure to keep well hidden.

They hadn't been caught yet and they were thankful for that.

Today was going the same as most days, but the two girls noticed one thing. When Bart came to get them for their "bathroom break" he had left the door to their room unlocked.

Danielle volunteered to head downstairs and bring back some water as they hadn't drunk anything since the morning.

Clementine agreed, telling the younger girl to be careful.

Danielle tried her best to be careful, staying as quiet as possible and glancing around every few minutes.

"What are you doing out of your room?"

She froze, trembling a bit. "I...I had to pee."

"I told Bart to give y'all a fucking bathroom break." Ronnie grumbled. "Go on. You got three minutes before I come in and yank you from that bathroom."

Danielle shrunk back a little. "I...I don't have to go anymore."

Ronnie shot her a glare, "Then get upstairs. Go."

Danielle quickly scampered back to the attic.

"What happened?" Clementine asked as her friend rushed into the room.

"Ronnie almost caught me." The child timidly squeaked.

Clementine whirled around to face Danielle, whose eyes full of fear. "He didn't see you take anything did he?"

"I don't know..." The girl whimpered. "They're going to kill me!"

"I'm sure they haven't noticed." Clementine patted the spot beside her, motioning for Danielle to come over.

"You think so?" Danielle sniffled, taking a seat by the other girl.

"Yeah." Clementine pulled her friend into a hug, comforting her.

"Clementine..." Danielle called.

"Yes?"

"Promise me something..." Danielle looked to her friend.

"What?" Clementine asked.

"That you'll always be my friend." Danielle said.

"I promise."

* * *

They figured they must have been in the clear. As the next morning at breakfast, they were left alone again. Clementine and Danielle locked eyes for a moment, before Clementine reached for the crackers sitting on the table.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Clementine jumped as she heard Bart behind her. "I was-"

"You think we're stupid? You think we weren't going to figure out you greedy little brats were stealing food." Bart growled at the little girl.

Clementine winced, looking away. Danielle started to whimper from her seat.

"I'm going to have to punish you." The man said.

"No!" Clementine cried. "It was me. Not Danielle."

"Shut the fuck up." Bart snapped at the child.

Clementine didn't listen, she didn't want Danielle getting hurt. "Please! It wasn't her fau-"

"Shut up." He smacked Clementine before grabbing Danielle and yanking her up from her seat.

Danielle let out a gasp as the man tossed her on the couch.

"Leave her alone!" Clementine begged.

Her pleas were ignored. She could hear Danielle crying as the man mercilessly beat her.

"Now you'll think twice about stealing from us. Get upstairs." He spat.

Clementine hear footsteps approach from behind her chair, she felt the man take her arm and jerk her to her feet.

She yelped in pain as too much weight was placed on her injured leg.

"Your turn." The man said, ignore her cry of pain. "It was your idea, wasn't it?"

"Y-Yes." Clementine whimpered.

"Well, your big plan got your little friend hurt." He said, tossing the girl on the couch, much like he did Danielle.

Clementine tried not to cry as he hit her, but the pain was too much to hold tears back.

The man waited a while for Clementine's tears to die down then smirked at her, "We're not done here.

Clementine's eyes widened as he unbuckled his belt and she immediately started to struggle.

Clementine's mind went blank as the man force himself on her.

When she finally snapped back into reality she was on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She sat up, looking over to Danielle's bed. The younger girl was sobbing into her pillow.

"Dani," Clementine called.

Danielle didn't respond.

Clementine forced herself up, fighting through her pain, and limped to the little girl. She wrapped her arms around her. "I'm sorry, Dani. I'm so sorry."

* * *

For several days, they went to bed with their stomachs empty and in pain as they were constantly beaten and raped.

It was only when the girls were too weak to move that their captors decided to give them some food before they completely starved to death.

The two ate what little food they were offered without a word, hoping to get back to their room as soon as possible. It seemed, however, that breakfast was a time for bad luck.

Clementine had made a small mistake of dropping her glass and that was enough to set Clifford, who was in charge of feeding them that day, off.

"What the fuck happened?" He demanded.

"The...The c-cup fell." Danielle replied.

"All on its own?" Clifford growled sarcastically.

"She… dropped it." Danielle mumbled.

Clifford looked to Clementine and scoffed. "Seriously? You're a dumb as a brick."

Clementine went as pale as paper at his statement.

"What? No smart ass remarks?" Clifford asked.

"You're all crazy..." Clementine said.

"Really now?" Clifford scoffed, "I'll show you crazy." He took the child's arm. "Clumsy little brats have to learn a lesson."

Clementine was kicking and screaming as the man took her from the table and carried her into another room, slamming the door behind him.

Danielle quickly pulled her hands over her ears, only to have them pulled away.

"No, listen. Listen to her."

Danielle looked to Cheryl, who had a look a satisfaction on her face and the little girl started to cry herself as she was forced to listen to her friend's screams.

Cheryl shot the child a glare. "Go upstairs."

Danielle didn't have to be told twice.

* * *

"Did they hurt you much?" Danielle asked as Clementine returned.

Clementine didn't answer, "I can't take it anymore, Dani. Let's leave."

"Where...?" Danielle asked. "Where would we go?"

"I don't know." Clementine sighed. "Anywhere but here. I can't stay here much longer."

"Me either." Danielle agreed.

Clementine started to whimper and Danielle sent her a concerned look.

"Are you okay?" Danielle asked.

"No..." Clementine sniffed. "I just want to be alone for a while..."

"Oh...Okay." Danielle nodded and understanding and walked to her own bed, leaving the girl to cry.

* * *

The next morning Clementine was feeling numb, she stayed quiet, not wanting to move.

They heard the door open only to quickly close again. Danielle went to the steps to see a single plate had been placed on the bottom stair. She retrieved it then went to sit by her friend. "It's okay, Clem."

Clementine was quiet.

"They brought food."

"I'm not hungry." Clementine said.

"You can't starve yourself." Danielle sighed, "You still have me." She said gently. "Eat something...we can't waste it. They'll only get angry with us."

Clementine let out a sigh, but agreed.

"You sleep with your hat?" Danielle questioned, trying to start conversation.

"It's really important to me." Clementine explained.

"Where'd you get it?" Danielle asked.

"It was a gift. From my dad." Clementine said.

"Really?"

Clementine nodded, slowly munching on a piece of bread. "Yeah."

"What was he like?" Danielle wondered.

"He was...nice. He always looked out for me. And he would bring me treats when he would come back from trips with my mom." Clementine told her.

"He sounds nice."

"He was." Clementine said. "What was your mom like?"

"She was really kind. One time she brought me a birthday cake. It had six candles on it." Danielle smiled.

"That's cool."

"Yeah... I miss her." Danielle sighed, "Hey, Clem..."

"Yes?" Clementine stopped eating to look at her friend.

"Let's make another promise." Danielle said.

"Okay." Clementine nodded. "What promise?"

"No matter what happens, we'll always be together."

"Of course." Clementine said. "Forever and ever."

"And if we ever get separated we'll meet up somewhere." Danielle quickly added.

"Where?" Clementine asked.

"I don't know. But we'll find each other." Danielle replied.

"Okay." Clementine nodded.

"Good." Danielle smiled. "I'm glad I have you."

"Me too."

* * *

Clementine sat silently watching as Cheryl combed through Danielle's hair. The woman kept hissing in Danielle's ear to keep still, but it was hard to do so when someone was yanking away at her hair.

The woman had already finished brushing through Clementine's hair. She had commented on how long it was getting and Clementine couldn't help, but feel guilty; she was breaking her promise to Lee. She wanted to cut her hair, to keep it short like she was supposed to, but those people wouldn't let her.

Their captors had all gathered around the room and were eating, Clementine felt her stomach growl as she wished they would feed them more than what they did. They obviously had enough food to go around, but they didn't care enough to offer.

"I'm just saying. It sounds like they got everything figured out there." One of the men sitting at the table spoke, pulling Clementine out of her thoughts.

Ronnie grumbled, "Fuck Wellington. They'd never let us in. Not with the girls."

"Let's not talk about this in front of the kids. Don't want them getting any ideas." Cheryl said.

"Yeah, your right." Ronnie said. "Why so quiet girls?"

"They're always quiet." Bart huffed.

"Not always." One of the men chuckled from the couch.

"She's my favorite." Ronnie motioned to Clementine.

"Why? She doesn't even talk anymore." Clifford scoffed.

"The other one cries too much." Ronnie pointed towards Danielle before placing a hand on Clementine's head. "You take this one and no one would ever know."

"True." Bart smirked.

Cheryl looked the girl over, "I think she's just stubborn. She won't talk to spite us."

"Is that true, sugar?" Ronnie asked.

Clementine remained silent.

"Is that what you're doing right now?" Ronnie questioned her. "You ignoring me?"

Clementine looked to the table, hoping they would leave her alone.

"Look at me. You don't know how to talk anymore? Lose your voice? Or are you just a spoiled rotten brat?" The man slammed his fist upon the table making the children flinch, his "nice" voice was once again gone. "Answer me!"

"She can't!" Danielle snapped.

"Shut it!" The man on the couch snapped.

"I asked you a question." Ronnie said.

Clementine finally looked up, shooting the man a glare.

"Are you going to cry?" Ronnie asked.

"I hope not. Nobody likes a crybaby." Cheryl spoke.

Clementine started clenching her fist in anger.

"Go on and cry for us." Ronnie laughed.

The girl shot another glare, jumping up from the table and tried to leave the room, but the man grabbed her quickly. The girl tried to jerk away.

"Don't you ever walk away from me!" He smacked the child in the face causing Danielle to start whimpering as he hit her friend. Clementine only held his glare with one of her own. "Get upstairs, both of you!"

* * *

"Are you okay?" Danielle asked, looking at her friend worriedly.

"Yeah... It didn't hurt. I didn't even feel it." Clementine sighed.

"Your cheek is red." Danielle pointed out.

"It's okay. Don't worry about me."

The two sat in silence for a moment before Clementine spoke, "Wellington."

Danielle raised a brow. "Hmm?"

"That's where we'll go. We'll meet up there." Clementine said.

"If we ever get separated?" Danielle asked.

"Mm-hm." Clementine took Danielle's hand. "We're leaving, Dani. Real soon."

"You think so?" Danielle asked.

"I can feel it. Our chance is soon." Clementine replied.

"I hope so." Danielle muttered.

Clementine tightened her grip on Danielle's hand. "We'll be safe in Wellington."

"The window's too far from the ground; we'd never make it." Danielle said looking out of the window.

"Yeah." Clementine agreed. "I don't think I could jump with my leg anyway."

"What's our other option?" Danielle asked.

"There's the front door?" Clementine said.

"No... They'd see us." Danielle quickly shook her head. "What about the back way?"

"That might work, but how will we unlock the door?" Clementine asked.

"I don't know." Danielle replied. "Maybe-"

Suddenly they heard the door open, both girls froze, going completely quiet.

"Breakfast."

* * *

The girls were convinced that the worse seemed to happen at breakfast. They figured today would be no different, they couldn't have been more wrong.

Clementine had watched as one of the men walked into the house through the back door, she didn't know his name, but she didn't care. All she knew was that he didn't lock the door.

She made sure to eat as slowly as possible, watching as the man plopped down on the couch.

Once they finished their meal, they were taken upstairs by the same man.

The house was quiet for the rest of the day. It wasn't until hours later that the guy called them for a bathroom break.

Clementine noticed the man was paying them no mind.

The man didn't stand by the door like their other captors would during bathroom breaks, instead, he sat back on the couch, leaving the girls to do as they pleased.

Once they had finished with the bathroom he didn't even glance over his shoulder as he mumbled "Get upstairs."

Clementine took a good look at the back door, grabbing Danielle's arm as the girl was about to head upstairs. "Dani..." She called quietly.

Danielle looked to her in confusion.

"The door..." Clementine whispered.

"What about it?" Danielle asked.

"He left it open." Clementine said as quietly as she could muster.

Danielle's eyes widened and she looked to the door to see Clementine was right, then door was unlocked. "What should we do?"

Clementine looked to the man who had dozed off. "We have to run."

Danielle's eyes widened. "Now?"

"Yes." Clementine said.

"O-Okay." Danielle helped the girl to her feet and allowed her to lean on her as the made their way for the door.

As soon as they opened the door they were hit with a cold blast of air.

They shut the door quietly, not wanting to alert anyone.

Danielle helped Clementine limp her way down the stairs. They moved as quickly as they could, feeling terrified.

They barely made it off the porch before they heard a voice yell out. "HEY!" The door swung open violently and the man stood angrily.

Clementine boldly picked up a rock and threw it at the man, hitting him in the face.

In that moment Danielle admired Clementine's courage as much as she hated their captors.

"RUN!" Clementine yelled to her, taking her hand. The two ran straight for the woods diving into the bushes.

Clementine clenched her teeth, trying to hold back pained yells.

They could hear the man walking close by. Danielle was starting to get hysterical, scared that the guy would find them. Clementine tried to keep her quiet, not wanting the man to hear them.

Not daring to move or breathe, Clementine and Danielle waited until the man, who was looking in their direction without seeing them, turned away, cursing wildly.

They soon heard him retreat into the house and she forced herself up. "Come on!"

Danielle whimpered, but took her hand and the two girls took off again.

* * *

Molly was scavenging around a seemly abandon area, she stayed on her guard peeking in and out of tents.

She could hear yells coming from not too far away, and strained her ears to listen. She couldn't make out what was being said. She took a moment to try to figure out how far away the screaming was before gathering what supplies she had found. She decided to go investigate what all the noise was.

As she made her way through the woods the screaming got closer and closer.

She stayed as calm as she could manage until she heard a movement in the trees. She looked to see two small figures running, driven by some sort of urgent haste.

They were too far away for Molly to call out too and she quickly lost sight of them in the trees.

* * *

Clementine and Danielle could hear yells echoing through the trees.

Clementine continued to tug Danielle forward. There was no way she was letting them get caught. "Come on!"

As she tugged the younger girl, she tripped, sending both of them tumbling to the ground. Clementine let out a yell, holding her leg in pain.

* * *

Molly continued to walk making her way towards the sound of the yelling.

It wasn't long before she spotted watched them through the trees, taking a few steps towards the clearing, she could see a group of men directly in front of her.

She listened for a while as they seemed to be fighting amongst each other.

She did her best to hear what was being said.

"Well?" One of the men asked.

"I've checked everywhere. They're not in the house." A woman's voice was heard.

Molly was a bit taken aback.

"They're gone. I'm telling you they ran outside." A second man said.

"Those girls...I've had it with them." Another man growled.

"Come on...How hard can it be to find those two stupid naked little girls?" The second man asked.

"Doesn't this seem easy to you?" The first man snapped at him.

"It can't be that hard to find two little bitches running naked through the damn forest. Especially when one has a broken leg." The second man said.

"Why the fuck would you leave the door open?!" Another man yelled angrily.

"I didn't think they would leave!" The second man said quickly.

"Oh yeah?" The first man scoffed, "Bet you probably didn't think I'd do this either."

Molly watched in horror as the man point his gun to his group-mate's head and pulled the trigger.

"God..." She gasped, taking a step back.

"Over there!"

She felt her heart jump as she realized the men had spotted her.

"In the woods!" One of the men yelled.

Molly took another step back as the men started heading in her direction.

Suddenly a high-pitched shriek broke through the quiet and Molly froze for a moment beside a large fallen tree.

She quickly shook her shock away and turned to run, but her foot slipped on wet grass and she tripped over the dead, fallen tree.

"Shit..." She swore as she pushed herself to her feet.

She looked to see the men approaching her, breaking through the tree. "Oh look, another bitch for us to fuck."

Molly went pale, her legs didn't work for a moment. Then a jolt shot through her and all of a sudden, she took off running.

She couldn't tell if they were catching up, but she didn't look back.

She heard them yell, loud shouts of anger.

She remembered the two naked figures she had spotted through the trees. She needed to help them. They must have run away from those sick people.

She frantically looked to see if they were still chasing her, she could no longer see them behind her. She started searching for the two girls when another sharp scream tore through the air.

* * *

Clementine was crying as pain writhed through her little body.

Danielle looked to her injured friend in fear. "C-Clem...What do we do?"

Clementine was too hysterical to respond.

Danielle glanced down to her friend's leg to see blood was soaking through her bandages. The eight-year-old gulped, not knowing what to do.

* * *

Molly continued to follow the cries, hoping that she would making it to the girls before those evil people did.

She heard rustling coming from the trees in front of her and her heart started to race.

She decided to face whoever was in those trees, pulling out Hilda she walked forward and was surprised to see two children on the ground; one of whom she recognized.

"C-Clementine?" She asked in surprise.

She moved towards the girls as she heard angry voices getting closer. The men had probably followed the child's screams the same way Molly had.

Molly scanned the two girls, eyes quickly falling on Clementine's bleeding leg. The girl was letting out whimpered. Molly crouched beside her and pressed down on the child's leg in order to stop the bleeding.

Clementine let out a scream as Molly pressed against her leg, sending a searing white-hot pain through her.

Molly looked to the other little girl, who was trembling with her eyes full of fear.

Clementine's scream had alerted the men of their location, but they weren't the only ones. The noise had also drawn countless amounts of zombies that were making their way towards them.

As Molly pressed harder on Clementine's leg, pain exploded through her limb and her energy wavered.

"Zombies!" One of the men yelled. His shout was followed by gun shots, which took the walkers attention away from Molly and the girls, and the monsters instead began to focus on the bandits.

Clementine had passed out from her pain and Molly saw this as their chance to escape. She scooped Clementine up into her arms then turned to Danielle who was watching in horror as the walkers tore the bandits apart.

"Oh my God!" The little girl exclaimed.

"We have to go!" Molly said quickly. She grabbed the girl's arm causing the child to tense. "We need to go, now!"

Danielle finally stopped resisting and started to run with her.

They ran through the wood, avoiding the walkers that were heading towards the sound of the gunshot.

Danielle was looking around frantically. "W-What do we do?!"

"Shh." Molly hushed. "Calm down."

"But..."

Molly continued to pull the child and Danielle's eyes widened with the realization that they were heading back in the direction of the house.

The girl started to panic. "Don't take us back! Please don't take us back."

"Quiet, kid. We'll all die if you keep screaming."

As they made it out of the wood, Molly approached one of the cars that were parked by the house. She tried the door, finding it unlocked. She looked at Danielle, "Get in."

Danielle hesitated for a moment before doing so.

Molly opened placed Clementine's unconscious form beside the girl. "Stay here. Don't make any noise."

Danielle nodded. Molly slammed the door shut and made her way towards the house disappearing inside.

Danielle shut her eyes. She could still hear screams and gunshots coming from the woods even with the door shut. She swallowed nervously, looking to Clementine, the girl didn't look so good. She hoped she would be alright.

Danielle watched the door anxiously, waiting to see if that woman would come back.

Soon enough she emerged from the house, carrying a bag. The woman walked to the car and climbed into the front seat.

Danielle watched her with curiosity and fear.

"Let's get out of here." The woman said, starting the car and taking off down the path.

Danielle sat quietly in the backseat as Molly drove. She glanced over to her friend, nervously wondering if she was okay.

"W-Why'd you save us?" Danielle's voice falters as she speaks.

Molly looked into the rearview mirror to see the tiny child. "Why wouldn't I?"

Danielle was a bit surprised by that. "I don't understand."

"You needed help, didn't you?" Molly asked.

"Y-Yes." Danielle said.

"Well, there's your answer." Molly replied.

The car went silent once again as they drove a few more miles. Finally, Molly pulled the car to a stop and climbed out, taking one of the bags she took from the little cabin with her.

Danielle waited, a confused look on her face.

Molly walked around the car until she reached the back where Clementine was laying. She opened the door and cringed at the sight. There was so much blood. It was covering the girl's leg.

Molly started digging in the bag for something to clean the child's wound with and bandages.

"Is she going to be okay?" Danielle asked in a worried voice.

"I don't know." Molly answered truthfully, she saw no reason to lie to the girl.

Danielle's heart dropped, and she looked away, she didn't want to watch her friend die. She looked out the window, hoping the woman would be able to save her.

Molly pressed hard against the child's leg, trying to stop the bleeding. It wasn't working. She had to be carefully, if she completely cut off Clementine's blood supply, there was a high chance of her losing that limb. However, if she didn't stop the bleeding soon, Clementine would surely die from blood lost.

Molly thought for a minute, if direct pressure wasn't enough she had to try something else.

Suddenly, she remembers pressure points could stop bleeding.

The woman pressed a spot, waiting for an effect.

Clementine let out a groan, and her golden eye peeled open. "W-What?" Dazed, the child struggled to sit up.

"No." Molly placed a hand on her chest. "Lie still."

Danielle looked over, curious and frightened.

Clementine was gasping as Molly pressed harder.

The bleeding started to slow until it finally stopped.

Clementine tried to sit up once again.

"Lie down!" Molly snapped. She didn't have time to reassure the girl, she needed to make sure she was taken care of. She had hit a spot that blocked the blood-flow, but she knew if she moved, Clementine would start bleeding again. "Kid,"

Danielle flinched, but looked to the woman, "Y-Yes."

"Look in that bag and pull out the bandages." Molly ordered.

Danielle started to dig through the bag.

"Do it quickly, or she'll die."

"I'm trying..." Danielle's voice sounded agonized as she dug through the bag. Finally, she found the bandages and pulled them out. "Here." Molly immediately took them in one hand, and tried to wrap the wound. It was a struggle, but she managed to do an okay job. After that she made sure to wrap a second bandaged around for extra security.

She let out a sigh before looking little Clementine over. The child was looking clammy, and Molly worried that the girl might go into shock any minute.

"Can... Can I see?" The child whispered.

"Shhh..." Molly said gently. "You're tired. Go to sleep."

"Oh? Okay..." Clementine mumbled. The expression on her face said she was in a lot of pain. "Dani?" She called weakly.

"I'm here, Clem." Danielle said.

Clementine reached out a shaky hand to her friend. Danielle quickly gripped her hand and held.

Clementine gave her a tiny smile before closing her eyes and drifting off.

"Is she going to be okay?" Danielle asked for a second time.

"Hopefully." Molly responded. "I stopped the bleeding... We just have to wait and see."

Danielle nodded.

"I don't think I got your name." Molly said.

"D-Danielle." The child squeaked.

"Okay... I'm Molly." The woman said to the little girl. "You cold?"

"Y-Yes."

Molly reached into one of the bag that was on the ground and pulled out two t-shirts. "Put this on." She tossed it to the child, who fumbled a bit, but caught it.

Danielle was grateful for the clothes, even though it wasn't much. She released her friend's hand, and pulled the large shirt over her head, practically swimming in it. The girl looked over to see Molly dressing Clementine before gently laying her down.

"Thanks..." Danielle said.

"Don't mention it."

Molly shut the door before walking around the car again to climb back into the driver's seat.

Molly started the car and began to drive.

* * *

They rode in silence, each thinking their own private thoughts.

Molly glanced back at the two girls, then as if reading Danielle's thought's, she spoke reassuringly. "Don't worry. She's tough." She said. "I'm sure she'll be fine."

Danielle didn't respond. They drove on without a word.

Molly couldn't help glancing back at the girls a few times as she drove.

Her eyes fell on Clementine's tiny form, she was hoping Clementine's condition wouldn't worsen. She wouldn't lie and say everything would be fine, she didn't know that.

She looked to the other little girl, who was staring out the window, apparently lost in her own thoughts.

Molly could tell those two girls had been through hell, and now the duty of taking care of them fell on her.

About ten minutes later Clementine woke up to find someone holding her hand. That someone was Danielle.

Clementine blinked blurry eyes and asked in a soft voice, "W-What happened."

Danielle only motioned to the woman in the front seat.

Clementine was confused for a moment, but glanced forward. "M-Molly?"

"Nice to see you again, Clementine." Molly said.

"You know each other?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah..." Clementine replied. "I met her when I was with my old group."

"Oh..." Danielle nodded, "Back with Lee?"

Clementine gave a nod. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

"Savannah didn't have much left to offer." Molly shrugged. "I think the more appropriate question is why are you by yourself. Where's Lee?"

"He... He got bit." Clementine answered sadly, tears pricking her eyes at the thought of her guardian.

Molly's eyes widened. "What?"

Clementine clenched her eyes shut. "It was my fault... I ran away and he got bit trying to save me."

"Clem... I'm sorry." Molly said gently.

"It's okay." Clementine said. The child paused for a moment before speaking, "You saved us..."

"I did." Molly nodded.

"Why?" Clementine asked gently.

"I wasn't going to leave you to die." Molly replied.

Clementine chewed her lip, looking out the window. "You're not going to leave again, are you?" Her voice was almost a whisper.

"What?" Molly asked the child.

"You won't leave us?" She asked, sounding almost fearful. "I don't want to be alone..."

Molly sighed, "No, Clementine. I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?" Clementine asked.

Molly gave her a reassuring smile, "I promise."

* * *

The sun was getting close to setting. Molly figured she could make a bit more distance before they had to call it a night. She looked to the gas meter. They were running on half full, but there was no way the car would make it all the way to Savannah.

The girls were looking out the window, both quiet as mice. Molly took a note that the two hadn't let go of each other's hands since Clementine had woken up.

"Look!" Danielle suddenly said, pointed out the window. There was a deer on the side of the road.

"It's so pretty." Clementine commented.

Molly could only think, it would make a good meal. The girls seemed so happy to see the animal, that Molly couldn't dare say anything. She knew they'd have to learn eventually but eventually wasn't now.

She noticed the deer was laid on the ground, sprawled out as if sleeping. When they drove past however, Molly immediately picked up on the fact that the thing wasn't moving; it was dead.

Clementine and Danielle didn't seem to notice, as the two girls turned their focus away from the animal and to the setting sun.

* * *

Molly finally pulled the car to a stop, once it started to get dark. She wanted to make sure they'd have enough light to make a fire. She needed to make sure the girls ate. They wouldn't have time to find shelter for the night, as the search so far was a complete failure.

Molly sighed, and opened the car door, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She walked around the car and opened the door to the back. "Let's go." She said to the children. She carefully pulled Clementine into her arms, before taking Danielle's hand and helping her out of the car. "Stay quiet." She warned them, as she released Danielle's hand to shut the car door. They didn't know who or what could be out there and Molly preferred not to find out.

They walked for a bit, until Molly found a spot that she figured would be safe to stay. They could still see the car from where they were, so Molly could be sure it wasn't stolen.

She gently placed Clementine on the ground and told Danielle to take a seat next to her. Danielle did so without complaint.

She began gathering dead branches and stacking them to build a fire.

She dug into her pocket, drawing out a knife. She picked up a single stick and started to shave it of its bark. Once she had done that, she dug a lighter from her pocket and got the stick burning. She used the stick to light the other branches.

There was no dangerous of freezing now, but there was a danger of hypothermia.

Molly began to look through the bag that she had brought from the car. The girls just watched on in silence. Molly pulled out a blanket and a sleeping bag as well as a small pot and a box of spaghetti noodles. She turned to face the girls, "You hungry?"

* * *

"Food's done..." Molly once again rummaged through the bag, finding some bowls and forks. She began scooping the cooked noodles into the bowl before handing the food to the girls.

Clementine looked to Molly and spoke, "You didn't have to cook them."

"What?" Molly asked.

"We would've just crushed it up and eat it." Clementine replied.

Molly was horrified. "You've done that before?"

Clementine gave a nod.

"You aren't supposed to eat them without cooking." Molly replied.

"Why not?" Clementine asked.

"If something is prepared wrong or not cooked and cleaned then it can make you very sick." Molly explained. "Everything should always be washed before eating it. You have to make sure water is clean as well. If it's not boiled then the bacteria inside it can make you sick."

"When I left Savannah, I drank the water from a river I found and after that I was really sick." Clementine said. "I thought I might die."

"See, that's because all the bacteria and germs. And you're lucky you didn't die, because you very well could have."

"I didn't know..." Clementine said sadly.

"Well now you do." Molly replied. "Go on, and eat your food."

Clementine started to eat the noodles. They were tasteless, but for some reason she enjoyed it better than the crackers they were given every other day.

They ate in silence for a little while before Clementine finally spoke again. "Where are we going?" The girl asked.

"Savannah." Molly replied.

Danielle's eyes widen, "We can't!"

"Why?" Molly asked her.

"We have to go find my mommy." Danielle said.

"Do you know where she is?"

"...No..." Danielle admit, looking down. "She's somewhere in Georgia."

"We need to go to Savannah." Molly said, "I know the area. I can find you two clothes and stuff, otherwise you're going to freeze to death."

"I don't care about me! I care about finding her." Danielle stated.

"What's your plan to do that?" Molly asked the child.

Danielle took a moment to respond, "I don't know."

"Well, when you come up with something, let me know." Molly said, eating her food.

She didn't get a response from the child.

* * *

After their meal, the group had set off to bed. Danielle couldn't sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about her mother. She needed to find her, she had to know she was alright.

Eventually she managed to drift off and it wasn't until several hours later, that she managed to rouse. The sun wasn't completely up yet, but Danielle could see a small amount of light. It had to be early morning, probably the crack of dawn.

She looked to her friend and tapped the older girl on the shoulder. "Clem..."

Clementine didn't respond. Danielle gave her friend another tap. "Clementine... Wake up."

"What is it, Dani?" Clementine finally asked.

"I'm scared..." Danielle whispered.

Clementine motioned for the girl to scoot closer, Danielle did.

"Go back to sleep." Clementine whispered.

"I can't." Danielle responded.

"Try harder." Clementine closed her eyes again, still too tired to move.

"But..." Danielle trailed off.

Clementine let out a sigh, opening her eyes to look at her friend, "What is it?" she asked her.

Danielle hesitated. "We have to find my mom."

"Go to sleep, Dani." Clementine murmured in a small voice.

"No." Danielle shook her head. "Clementine, come on." She started tugging on Clementine's hand, much to the older girl's annoyance.

"Knock it off, Dani." Clementine grumbled out.

"We have to look for my mom. She'll take care of us." Danielle said. "You promised we'd always be together."

"We will." Clementine replied.

"Then come on." Danielle tugged Clementine's hand again. "Let's go."

Clementine shook her head, "It's not safe out there, Dani."

"We can take care of ourselves. We'll take care of each other." Danielle said.

"I'm not going." Clementine responded firmly.

"I thought we were friends." Danielle huffed.

"We are." Clementine replied.

"Apparently we're not." Danielle said. "If we were, you'd help me find my mom."

Clementine released a breath, "I can't even walk, Danielle."

"I'll help you." Danielle claimed.

"I don't want to be alone again, Dani." Clementine said. "Molly will take care of us."

Danielle shook her head, "We won't be alone. We have each other."

"Stop being stupid!" Clementine finally snapped, patience wearing thin.

Danielle looked surprised, but quickly retorted, "You're the stupid one!"

"If you go out there, you'll die!" Clementine said.

Molly awoke with a start, by the sound of them arguing. "Shut up!" She hissed to the children, who immediately quieted down. "What's the problem?"

"I have to find my mom." Danielle said. "I'll do it with or with you." She shot Clementine a look. Clementine only lowered her head in response.

Molly, noticing this spoke, "Did you not learn anything from Clementine's mistake of being unprepared?" Molly scoffed.

Danielle looked to the woman. "What?"

"Just how far do you think you're going to get without any clothes or food and water?" Molly demanded.

Danielle didn't answer.

"You don't even know where she is." Molly reminded. "Even if, by the smallest chance, you do manage to get all that stuff, what will you do if more bandits find you?"

Danielle stopped for a moment "I'll let the monsters get them."

"Oh?" Molly nodded. "And then I suppose you'll let them get you too?"

"No..." Danielle shook her head. "They only get bad people."

"That's not true, Dani." Clementine cut in. "They get everyone."

"Not kids." Danielle said.

"Kids too." Clementine replied, remembering when she first found out Duck was bitten.

Molly waited for Danielle to process what they had just told her. When the girl didn't say anything Molly spoke again, "We're going to Savannah. We have to find you some clothes." Molly said in a stern voice. "You won't be able to find your mother if you freeze to death."

Danielle opened her mouth to speak, but Molly raised a hand.

The woman spoke, "I don't want to hear any complaints from either of you. Got it?"

"Yes." Clementine spoke.

Molly looked to Danielle, "Got it."

"Y-Yes." Danielle sniffed, tears stinging her eyes.

"Good. Now go back to sleep." Molly ordered. "You're lucky all that noise didn't bring any of those Geeks." She huffed. "I'm waking you both up in an hour."

Danielle bit her lip before laying back down.

Clementine laid beside her, but neither girl said a word.

Danielle turned her back to Clementine, and started to cry.

Clementine sighed. She didn't want to hurt Danielle's feelings, she only wanted her friend to be safe. Out there wasn't safe, especially not to be alone. "I'm sorry, Dani."

There was no response.

She could hear Molly going through the bag again. Clementine looked over to see the woman was getting breakfast started. Clementine felt bad for waking Molly up, but she didn't say anything.

Danielle's sobs soon started to die down and Clementine assumed she had fallen asleep.

Clementine decided to leave the girl alone, she'd talk to her later. For some reason however, she couldn't help how her heart ached at the feeling of being pushed away by her best friend.

She closed her eyes and dropped into a dreamless sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**_Thanks, gaara king of the sand for helping me out._**

* * *

They were back on the road again. Molly had given them a full day to rest up, but decided she couldn't just stay put any longer. The girls needed clothes, it would be colder soon and t-shirts weren't enough to keep them warm.

"Molly?" Clementine voiced.

Molly looked to the rear-view mirror to see the child, "Yes?"

"How much longer until we get to Savannah?" Clementine asked.

"It's going to take a while. We've got quite a bit of ground to cover." Molly replied. "Why?"

"Just wondering." Clementine shrugged.

The child fell silent, looking out the window for a short moment, before glancing to her friend.

"Dani," She called, looking to Danielle. "Are you okay?"

The younger girl said nothing. She had been quiet the entire day. No matter what Clementine said, she wouldn't respond.

Clementine felt her heart ache as the girl ignored her. She felt bad. Had she lost her best friend?

With a sigh, the girl turned back to look out the window.

It wasn't long before Molly pulled over the vehicle.

Clementine and Danielle looked at the woman in confusion.

"What's wrong?" Clementine inquired.

"Nothing." Molly responded. "We're stopping for lunch."

The three took turns eating from a can of fruit.

Sure, fruit cocktail wasn't a grade A lunch, but it was better than nothing, and the girls weren't complaining.

After their meal was finished they started back on the road. The few hour drive was a quiet one, and Molly was fine with that. The girls obviously weren't up for talking and Molly didn't mind. To be honest she preferred the silence.

At some point the children had dozed off, and when they woke again, it was beginning to get dark.

Molly had pulled the car over and was digging through a bag. She pulled out some crackers and tossed them to the back seat. "You two share these."

The girls eyed the crackers, falling into a dead silence.

Molly raised a brow, "Not hungry?" She asked.

The girls still said nothing.

"Alright…." Molly said. "We're going to keep driving." She informed them before starting the car. "I would advise you eat those crackers if you get hungry. We're not stopping for a while."

It was still quiet. Molly felt like she was talking to herself at this point. She let out a sigh. The offer of crackers had somehow made the children depressed, for what reason, she didn't know. She had to assume it had something to do with those sick people that were chasing them.

Regardless, she wasn't going to throw out the crackers. Food was food, and eventually she'd have to make them understand that.

* * *

"Dani, please talk to me…" Clementine sighed.

Danielle didn't even spar her a glance.

"Danielle." Clementine called again.

"Clementine, leave her alone and eat your food." Molly said, growing slightly annoyed. Clementine had been trying to get the younger girl to speak since they had stopped the car, Danielle clearly wasn't budging.

Clementine tried to protect. "But-"

"Eat." Molly said. She didn't mean to be sound cold, but Danielle was obviously upset, Clementine needed to give the girl some space.

Clementine frowned, but did as she was told. Once again, she sent her younger friend a glance. Danielle wasn't eating, she hadn't touched her food at all.

With a worried look, Clementine spoke, "Eat something, Dani."

The was a brief silence before Molly broke it. "She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to." Molly said.

Clementine didn't respond to the woman. Instead, she called again, "Danielle, eat something."

Molly sent the nine-year-old a look. "Clem-"

"Please, eat something, Dani." Clementine said, in a voice full of authority.

With a tiny sigh, Danielle started to eat.

Molly watched, surprised that Clementine had managed to get the other girl to eat.

Clementine gave a satisfied smile and continued to eat.

Once they finished their meal, the two girls laid down for bed.

Molly worked on keeping the fire low, as not to draw attention, but lit in order to keep the children warm.

Clementine gave a few feebly attempts at starting a conversation with Danielle, but all her tries were useless. Eventually, she gave up and the two girls had fallen asleep.

Molly looked over to the sleeping children. They looked peaceful. Danielle was curled in a fetal position, while Clementine was sprawled on her back with a tiny hand against her chest. The two looked so innocent. Molly felt sick to her stomach as she thought about what they had went through; the hell they had faced. She was just glad their captors had paid the price for what they had done.

It wasn't hard to piece two and two together. Molly quickly figured out what had happened.

Still, they needed to talk about it. They couldn't carry that around, she needed to get them to talk, but for now it felt too soon to mention it. It was too early to push them into talking. They needed more time. Sooner or later they'd be ready.

* * *

Clementine woke the next morning and lay still, staring to the sky for a period of time.

She heard a movement to her side and glanced over. Danielle was stirring, but hadn't fully woken yet.

Clementine continued to watch the sky, finding shapes in the clouds.

She was startled out of her thoughts when Danielle suddenly shot upright, "Mommy!" The younger girl exclaimed with a gasp.

Clementine sent her a concerned look. "Are you okay?"

There was no response.

"Dani, come on... How long are you going to ignore me?"

Still nothing.

"I thought we were friends." Clementine said. "Please, just talk to me."

Danielle still didn't answer.

"Do you hate me or something?" Clementine asked sadly.

"No..." The response was quiet. Almost unheard.

"What?" Clementine looked to the girl.

"I don't hate you." Danielle said, and despite the fact that she hadn't planned to, she looked over to Clementine. "You're my best friend I can't hate you."

Clementine's lips curved into a tiny smile.

"I know it's hard, Dani..." Clementine said, "I miss my parents too."

"But they're dead... You know that." Danielle said, it sounded cruel, but it was true. "I don't. My mom might still be alive."

"If she is she would want you to be safe." Clementine replied. "And smart." She added.

Danielle looked down. She knew her friend was right.

"I'll help you." Clementine said after a few moments.

"Huh?" Danielle asked.

"I'll help you look for her." Clementine said. "But we have to make sure we're prepared."

"Okay..." Danielle nodded. "Thanks, Clem."

"Of course." Clementine said. "We're friends. I don't like fighting with you, Dani…"

"Me either, Clem." Danielle said. "I need you... You're my best friend."

Clementine's response was to take her friend's hand and give it a squeeze.

* * *

Molly was gentle as she cleaned Clementine's wounded leg, still the child hissed in pain. It burned her skin. Molly was sure that the child was in a lot of pain, the way she gritted her teeth proved that, but at least she was alive.

Molly bandaged the child's leg, while Danielle looked over in concern.

Molly shut the door and walked around to get into the front seat.

The two girls sat in the backseat, clutching hands tightly. In the rear-view mirror, Molly caught a glimpse of the children. Danielle didn't look as depressed as she did the day prior, which was a good thing. The girls had suffered enough heartache.

"I was thinking..." Molly started, drawing the girls' attention. "There might be a little change of plans."

"What do you mean?" Clementine asked. "Aren't we going to Savannah?"

"We are." Molly said. "That's our first stop."

"First stop?" Clementine repeated, looking puzzled.

"Yeah." Molly said. "I was considering what Danielle had said..."

"Me?" Danielle questioned.

"That's right." Molly nodded. "You want to find your mother, right?"

Danielle eyes widened, ignoring the agony the question provoked. She spoke in a voice that showed she was certain of what she wanted, "More than anything."

"Well, after we finish in Savannah our next course of action can be finding your mom." Molly said.

"R-Really?" Danielle asked in surprise.

"Yes. I heard you two talking last night." Molly explained. "There's no way I'm letting you girls go alone… And I don't have anything else I'm doing."

"You're sure?" Danielle asked.

Molly nodded.

"Thank you…" Danielle smiled. "Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it kid." Molly said. "So, we have our plan?"

The girls looked to each other then back to where Molly said. They both nodded.


	11. Chapter 11

**_Thanks to gaara king of the sand for helping._**

* * *

Molly looked to the gas meter, the gas was getting low. They were down to one-fourth of a tank, but all she could do was keep driving.

"Molly…" A tiny voice called from the backseat.

Molly looked to the rearview mirror, "Yes, Danielle?"

"I found a CD." Danielle said, raising said CD up.

Molly reached a hand back to take said CD. She glanced at it, finding it didn't have a label.

She figured it would be something inappropriate for children, considering that it was found in a vehicle belonging to rapist, so when Danielle asked her to play it, she was hesitant.

"Can you please play it?" Danielle asked innocently. "It's been a long time since I've heard music."

"Alright…" Molly agreed. She put the CD in. If it turned out to be inappropriate she would just turn it off immediately. To her surprised however, children's music began to play.

As the girls innocently sung along to the tune Bingo, Molly felt her stomach turn. Those people most likely had the children's music to play for children they planned on hurting… Molly wondered if those people had other victims before Danielle and Clementine.

"Molly, can you turn it up?" Clementine's voice broke her out of her thought.

The girls noticed Molly's pained expression and Danielle spoke, "What's wrong?"

"No… It's nothing. Don't worry." Molly turned the music up.

The girls once again started to innocently sing. This time Molly tried to focus on nothing but the road.

* * *

Finally, the car ran out of gas. Molly hoped to find a gas station or another vehicle that she could siphon gas from, but there was no such luck.

"Well, this is as far as we're going." Molly sighed.

She opened the door and started to gather their supplies. "Danielle." She called to the child.

"Y-Yes?" Danielle stammered.

"Grab that bag for me." She motioned to a bag in the seat beside the girl.

Danielle did so.

"You carry that." Molly said.

"I can carry something too." Clementine offered.

"Nah, I got it. Gotta carry you anyway." Molly grabbed the other bag, before picking up little Clementine.

Molly started walking with Clementine in her arms, Danielle walking close beside her.

"We have a few more hours of walking. Let me know when you're in need of a break." Molly said.

Danielle gave a nod.

They managed to walk nearly an hour before Molly noticed Danielle was starting to slow down. The girl hadn't made any complaints, but Molly could tell the child was tired.

Molly glanced to the girl before speaking, "Let's stop."

Danielle looked confused. "Why? What's wrong?"

"We're going to take a break." Molly said. "You're tired, aren't you?"

"I'm okay." Danielle claimed.

Molly sent the girl a skeptical look. The child looked exhausted, but she could tell Danielle was trying to act tough. "Well, how about we take a break anyway."

"Okay." Danielle said.

Molly carefully set Clementine on the ground. Danielle took a seat beside her friend, as Molly went to start a fire.

"Hey." Danielle said to Clementine.

"Hey." Clementine said back.

"How's your leg?" Danielle questioned.

"It still hurts." Clementine sighed. "I guess it could be worse."

Danielle gave her friend a worried look. "You were bleeding a lot… I was scared…"

"I'm okay now…" Clementine said.

Danielle nodded. "That's good."

"You girls hungry?" Molly suddenly asked.

The children nodded, looking over to see Molly had started a fire and was opening up a can of beans. Once she got the can open, she started cooking the can of baked beans.

Molly dug into the bag she was carrying, pulling out three plastic bowls. She filled the bowls with beans once she had finished cooking, before offering them to the girls.

The girls talked while they ate, Molly could hear their childish small talk of mystical creatures and other silly things. She was glad they had a small part of innocence still.

"Molly…" Clementine called, looking up to the woman.

"Yes?" Molly asked.

"Savannah seemed pretty dangerous…." The child said.

"That's true…" Molly agreed, "But everywhere is dangerous."

Clementine frowned, "So why are we going back there?" She asked.

"Well… I know the area." Molly said. "It's better to go somewhere I'm familiar with than to wander around somewhere I'm not."

"How much longer until we get there?" Danielle asked.

"Couple hours." Molly said. "I know you girls are tired. We can stay here and rest up for a bit."

Molly wanted to get to Savannah as soon as possible, but she wasn't going to push the girls too hard. They were both not in the best shape.

"We're fine." Danielle said with a frown.

"Don't push yourself, Dani." Molly replied.

"I'm not…" Danielle said before sighing. "I just want to find my mother."

"We're going to look for her. I promise." Molly reassured the child.

"Okay." Danielle mumbled.

"Go on and eat." Molly urged.

Danielle nodded and continued to eat her meal.

* * *

After hours of travel, the three finally made it to Savannah.

The girls looked petrified as they noticed the herd of walkers not too far away from them.

Molly quickly picked up on the children's fearfulness. "Stay quiet." Molly said gently.

"W-What do we do?" Danielle squeaked out.

"Shush." Molly said. "Everything is fine."

"B-But…"

"They're not paying attention to us." Molly cut the child off, speaking in a hushed tone. "Don't draw attention."

The little girl nodded.

Molly adjusted her grip on Clementine before offering Danielle her hand. Danielle took her hand and Molly could feel the young girl trembling, she was clearly nervous.

"It's okay." Molly told the girl.

Danielle only gave another nod in response.

Molly noticed Clementine had also become silent, she assumed the girl was lost in her thoughts.

As Molly began to walk, she felt Danielle clutch her hand. The woman didn't say anything. She was going to make sure those children stayed safe.

They soon managed to stumble upon an abandoned house. Molly figured it would be a good stop. Upon reaching the backyard, she noticed to slide. Those previous owners most likely had children.

Speaking of children, the girls still seemed nervous, however they were doing better.

Molly set Clementine down. The girl sent her a confused look.

"I'm going to check the house out." Molly told the children. "You two stay put."

Clementine and Danielle both nodded.

Molly went inside to check the house.

The two girls sat in silence. Clementine glanced over to Danielle and noticed the younger girl was fidgeting.

"Are you okay?" Clementine asked her friend.

Danielle only shrugged.

"What's wrong?" Clementine asked.

"I…" Danielle paused trying to figure out what to say. "Those monsters… Do they really… not just hurt bad people?" She asked sounding nervous.

"Yeah, Dani." Clementine sighed. "They hurt everyone."

"But… But why?" Danielle asked.

"I still don't know the answer to that." Clementine replied. "I don't think anyone knows."

Danielle nodded. "The world is pretty bad."

"Really bad." Clementine agreed.

Molly soon came outside, "We're clear." She said. Scooping Clementine up, she motioned for Danielle to stand, they then made their way into the house.

* * *

The girls sat on the couch as Molly looked through one of the bedrooms. She soon came back with a couple outfits that were fit for children. "Here. Put this on." She handed Danielle one of the outfits before taking a seat beside Clementine.

She made an attempt to help Clementine dress, but the girl immediately tensed. Molly raised a brow, giving another try.

"NO!" Clementine suddenly cried out, struggling to get away.

Danielle watched on, eyes wide and full of terror.

"Clem, stop it." Molly said. "I'm not going to hurt you."

The child only struggled more.

After a couple more tries, Molly realized what she was doing wrong. She needed to explain to the child exactly what she was doing. Once Clementine realized she only wanted to change her clothes, she allowed the woman to do so.

Molly sighed once the two girls were finally dressed in clean, warm clothing. Next thing was to get them fed.

"Are we leaving?" Danielle asked.

"Not tonight." Molly said. "We're going to stay here, alright?"

Danielle nodded. "Tomorrow?"

"Not sure yet, kiddo." Molly replied.

"Oh…" Danielle frowned.

"We should take a little while to let you two rest up." Molly said. "You must be exhausted."

"But what about my mommy?" Danielle asked.

"We're going to look for her, but we have to make sure you two are in good enough shape to do so."

Danielle nodded. "Okay."

Molly proceeded to make dinner after that. Once the girls were fed and asleep, she sat down to think to herself.

She had no idea where to go after this. She had two little girls to keep alive, that was definitely not going to be easy.

With that thought, a question came to her. Clementine knew how to shoot, but did Danielle? Probably not. She would have to teach her. She would have to teach them a lot of things.

* * *

The next morning the girls woke to someone moving around the room.

Clementine's eyes shot opened as she wondered what was going on. She sighed in relief however, when she noticed Molly. "Molly?"

"Hey Clem." Molly said.

"What were you doing?" Clementine asked.

"Setting some stuff up." Molly shrugged.

"What do you mean?" Danielle asked, moving to a sitting position.

"We're going to have a shooting lesson." Molly explained.

Danielle frowned, "I don't know how to shoot."

"I know." Molly said. "I'm going to teach you."

"Do I have to?" Danielle asked nervously.

"It's important to know how to protect yourself." Molly told the girl.

"But you can protect us." Danielle said.

"We can't always guarantee I'll be there." Molly stated, shaking her head. "Come on."

"Now?" Danielle asked.

Molly nodded, "Yep."

"What about me?" Clementine questioned.

"Well… you already know how to shoot, but we'll definitely have you practice. Not today though. We don't need you on that leg yet." Molly said.

Clementine sighed, but nodded. "Okay Molly."

"How about you watch?" Molly suggested.

"Alright." Clementine said. "Can I at least try to walk?"

Molly looked to the girl's leg. "If you can't stand, you won't be able to walk."

"Can I try?" Clementine asked.

"Sure…" Molly agreed.

Clementine slowly moved to the edge of the couch, placing her feet on the ground. As soon as she put pressure on her leg, pain shot through her. She fell back to the couch.

"You okay?" Danielle asked.

"Y-Yeah." Clementine said.

"No walking…" Molly said, seeing the pain etched in the child's face.

Clementine didn't protest.

* * *

Molly took the two outside, and carefully set Clementine on the ground.

"Clem… do you know how to load a gun?" Molly asked.

"No…" The child answered.

"Alright." Molly nodded, it seemed both of the kids had a lot to learn. Showing the children her weapon, she spoke, "Okay... Watch me carefully, girls." She began loading the gun as she spoke. "Later on, I want you both to do this."

The girls watched closely.

Danielle was starting to feel uncomfortable, but she knew it was useless to protest.

"Okay." Molly said as she finished loading the weapon. She turned to look at Danielle. "First thing to know, is safety. You have to be careful with a gun. Pretend it's ALWAYS loaded."

"O-Okay." Danielle said, she was trembling. "G-Got it."

"Molly, what about the noise?" Clementine spoke up. "What if the walkers hear?"

"I have a silencer." Molly explained, showing the child. "It'll make the gun quiet."

"Oh." Clementine nodded.

Molly turned back to Danielle, speaking in a reassuring yet firm voice, "Don't be scared of it." Molly said, holding the gun to the shaking child.

Danielle shook her head. "I can't help it... Guns are bad... horrid things."

"Yes... but the world is a very dangerous place now. Everyone should know how to protect themselves. Even children." Molly said in a calm voice.

"But guns… h-hurt people." Danielle mumbled. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

"Sometimes you have no choice but to hurt people." Molly said. "Only when it's necessary."

"When is it necessary?" Danielle asked.

"When you have to protect yourself, or someone you love." Molly replied.

Danielle swallowed nervously, accepting the gun.

Molly showed the children how to make sure their ammunition was correct for the gun and how to turn the safety on and off.

After that, Molly had Danielle shoot at some on the targets she had set up while the children were asleep.

With her hands over the eight-year old's ears, Molly told the child to take a shot.

Danielle had some trouble at first, but eventually she started to hit the targets.

"Good job." Molly praised. "Alright..." She took the gun from the little girl. "How do you feel?"

Danielle shrugged. "My hands really hurt..." She complained.

"Yeah, that'll pass..." Molly said. "You did a good job, kid."

"Thanks." Danielle smiled.

"Yep." Molly looked to Clementine. "Your turn."

"What?" Clementine's eyes widened.

"I want you to take a shot." Molly said. "I want to see if you can hit the target while sitting. It shouldn't make a huge difference."

Molly crouched beside Clementine, handing the girl the gun. She placed her hands over Clementine's ears and waited for the girl to pull the trigger.

Molly hadn't excepted the child to hit a target and was well surprised when she did on her first shot. She figured it was beginner's luck until Clementine hit for a second, then a third time.

"Let's call it quits." Molly said. "We'll practice more tomorrow."

The girls nodded.

* * *

After shooting, they head back inside. Molly prepared lunch for the two girls, seeing as though they had slept through breakfast time.

Once they were done with their meal, she had Clementine load and unload the gun a couple times. After the girl got the hang of it, she had Danielle do the same.

"I think that's enough for today." Molly took the gun from the Danielle.

"Now what?" Clementine asked.

"What do you want to do?" Molly questioned back.

"Can we draw?" Clementine asked.

Molly shrugged. She walked from the room and found a coloring book and crayons. She handed the objects to the children and sat down to watch them, not expecting them to convince her to color with them.

The three of them colored for a while until the children eventually dozed off exhausted from their shooting lesson.

Molly decided to take the time to look for any useful weapons. She eventually found a pocket knife and figured she would have to teach the girls how to protect themselves close range as well, but for now she would just focus on gun training.

* * *

Once Danielle learned how to use the gun skillfully, Molly had the load and practice every day. For the next week, Molly made sure to have gun practice as soon as the girls woke up. She was sure to limit their amount of shots, not wanting to waste too many bullets.

The girls knew what to do without being told. Molly had taught them everything she had thought to teach.

"I think you two are ready for guns of your own." Molly commented.

"Really?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah." Molly smiled. "You've come a long way kid."

Danielle actually felt proud of herself. "So, I can have a gun?"

Molly chuckled. Her attitude towards the weapon was a lot more open than it had been. "Maybe I'll be able to find you girls some."

"Okay." Danielle nodded.

Molly looked to the two girls. They were in much better shape than when she had found them. Sure, it had only been a week, but within that time both girls had learned and improved on shooting, and Clementine's leg was getting better. Molly was glad there was no sign of infection.

"We're heading out tomorrow. So, let's rest up today." Molly informed the two girls.

"Tomorrow? Seriously?" Danielle asked.

"That's right." Molly confirmed. "We're going to make a few pitstops before we leave Savannah, see if we can gather any supplies."

"That's a good idea." Clementine said.

"Good." Molly nodded. "Now… how about some breakfast?"

She brought the girls into the house where they settled for a meal, happily discussing their new shooting accomplishment.

Later in the day, Molly took a seat on the couch in the living room area.

The girls were once again coloring. The place was dead silent, other than the faint rustle of the pages from the coloring book as the girls carefully turned them.

As Molly sat there, she felt a bit awkward with the sudden absence of noise. Her mind was still running from the long and busy week.

"Clementine..." Molly addressed gently, waiting for the girl to look to her.

"Huh?" Clementine glanced up from the coloring book to the woman.

"What happened to you...?" Molly sighed. "How did you end up alone?"

Clementine frowned. The question brought back intense memories. It hit her like a lightning bolt as she stopped her coloring.

The events were still fresh on her mind. She remembered what she tried not to think about everyday. She remembered seeing Lee just sitting there, unable to move. She heard his raspy breathes. She felt the weight of the gun in her hand.

"Clementine?" Molly called in concern.

Clementine was startled from her trance. She didn't say anything for a while. A great feeling of anxiousness and depression swung over her.

Clementine kept her head low, shaking it slowly. "I... I was stupid..."

"What?" Molly asked.

"I got Lee killed..." Clementine whimpered, eyes filling with tears.

Molly shook her head. "Don't say that."

"But it's true." Clementine said. "If I hadn't talked to that guy on the radio, Lee would still be alive."

Molly remembered the guy on the radio being mention briefly. "What happened?"

"There was this man... He said he knew my parents... I believed him, but he lied. He kidnapped me. Lee eventually saved me, but I found out he was bit. I had to shoot him." The girl was crying freely now. Hysterical at the thought of her guardian.

"Oh Clem... I'm so sorry." Molly said.

"Me too..." The child sobbed.

The girl sat on the floor, weeping and incoherent.

Molly felt bad, like she shouldn't have asked the question.

Danielle was rubbing her friend's back, trying to calm her down.

"Clem..." Molly made her way over to the girl. Gently, she lifted the child into her arms, holding her as the girl cried.

"It's alright..." Molly said soothingly. "Don't cry."

Eventually the girl had stopped her crying, drying her tears.

"You okay?" Molly asked her.

"I think so…" Clementine replied. "…Lee said to find Christa and Omid. That they would be by the train... They weren't."

"They've probably been searching for you..." Molly said.

"Do you think we'll find them?" Clementine asked.

"Maybe." Molly shrugged.

"Can't we try?" Clementine questioned.

"I don't know Clem. I wouldn't know where to look." Molly responded.

"Please? Before we leave...?" Clementine asked.

"Maybe kid. If we have time." Molly said.

"Okay..." Clementine said.

Molly sighed before saying, "Now, let's get some rest."

* * *

The night was quiet. Molly slept in complete peace until she was suddenly jolted awake by a loud, blood-curling scream.

"Dani?" She heard Clementine call. "Are you okay?"

Danielle gave no response. The small child was sitting up, eyes wide as she thrashed and cried.

Molly got up and made her way over to the little girl. "Dani?"

As she approached the girl, the child staggered back in fright.

"Danielle, it's okay." Molly spoke in a reassuring tone. "I'm not going to hurt you."

In her panicked state, Danielle didn't know what to believe.

"I won't touch you if you don't want me to..." Molly said. "I just want to help you."

Molly moved closer to the girl.

"NO!" Danielle suddenly cried fearfully.

"It's okay, Dani. You've got nothing to be afraid of." Molly said gently.

The woman was surprised when the girl suddenly hugged her. The woman held the child, speaking calmly to her. "It's okay."

After a couple moments of comforting Danielle, Molly heard Clementine speak again.

"What happened?" Clementine mumbled, barely awake.

"It's okay, Clem. Go back to sleep." Molly said.

"Is Dani okay?" Clementine asked.

Molly looked to the girl in her arms and asked, "Are you?"

"N-No..." Danielle whimpered.

"What's wrong?" Clementine asked her friend.

"I had a bad dream..." Danielle admit in a quiet voice.

"Oh... It's not real." Clementine said. "You can hold my hand if you want."

Danielle gently reached out and let her hand close around Clementine's. "Thanks..."

Clementine nodded, before closing her eyes.

The room fell quiet again with the exception of Danielle's little sniffles.

"Danielle?" Molly called after a few moments.

"Yes?" Danielle said.

"You alright?" Molly asked.

"I think..." Danielle replied.

Molly paused, "You need a drink or something?"

"No thank you..." Danielle said.

"Do you need anything?" Molly asked.

The girl shook her head. "Can you just hug me…?" Danielle remarked sheepishly.

Molly shrugged, "Alright kid." She pulled the child closer.

"Sorry for waking you." Danielle said, looking down.

"Nah, it's ok," Molly said, pushing a stray hair behind the child's ear. "Want to talk about your dream?"

"It was about the bad people…" Danielle said. "I dreamt they were hurting me again…"

"Oh…" Molly didn't know what to say. "They're dead."

"Yeah… I forgot we weren't there anymore…" Danielle said.

"Well, they can't hurt you anymore. Never again." Molly said.

"I know…. I just…" Danielle paused, choking on a sob. "…I want my mommy…"

"I know. Don't cry." Molly hushed the child. "We're going to look for your mommy.

Danielle nodded. "Okay…"

"Try to get some sleep kid." Molly said.

"Goodnight." Danielle mumbled in response.

"Goodnight, Dani." Molly said.

It wasn't long before the child had fallen back to sleep. Danielle was still clutching Clementine's hand as Molly laid the eight-year- old near her friend.

She made sure the girls were sleeping soundly before falling back to sleep herself.

* * *

The girls were coloring while Molly made them breakfast.

Danielle was humming to herself.

Molly was glad she was feeling better after her nightmare.

"Molly?" Clementine called.

Molly looked to the child, "Yes Clementine?"

"Can I walk today?" Clementine asked the woman.

Molly took a moment to think about it. "I don't know kid…"

"Can I at least try?" Clementine asked her.

"Sure." Molly agreed.

"Now?" Clementine raised a brow.

Molly shook her head. "Nah. Let's get you girls breakfast first."

The nine-year-old nodded. "Okay."

Molly's gaze fell onto Danielle who was still quietly humming to herself. "How're you doing Dani?"

"Good." Danielle replied.

"You've been pretty quiet today." Molly pointed out.

"I'm just thinking." Danielle replied.

"What about?" Clementine asked.

"My mommy." Danielle said.

"Oh." Clementine said back.

Danielle pulled herself into sitting position "How much longer will we stay here?"

"That depends on you two. Are you girls feeling up to leaving today?" Molly asked the two.

"Yeah." Danielle said quickly.

"I guess so." Clementine said.

Molly took a moment to look the two over. "We'll see how well Clem's leg is doing first."

"Okay." Danielle said. She didn't want her friend to be hurt. She was willing to wait for her.

Molly finished making the girls breakfast and the children started eating.

"Are we training today? Danielle asked.

"No. I think you two are good with shooting a gun." Molly said.

"Okay." Danielle replied.

"So… What are we doing today?" Clementine asked.

"Well… Depending on how your leg is feeling, we might be leaving today." Molly said.

Clementine gave a nod. "Alright."

"I'm going to change your bandages and stuff, then if everything's good we can head out."

Clementine nodded.

* * *

After the girls finished their meal Molly worked on changing Clementine's bandages. The girl clenched her teeth in pain as Molly cleaned her wound. Once the woman had bandaged Clementine's leg the child looked up to her.

"Can I try now?" Clementine asked.

"Try what?" Molly asked the girl.

Clementine said, "To walk. Can I try?"

"Alright kid." Molly helped the child to stand, steadying the girl. Clementine took a second to balance herself on the couch so she wouldn't fall over.

After a moment she released the couch and tried to balance, but she swayed and nearly fell.

Molly could sense the child's frustration. "Try again."

Clementine nodded. She made a few uncertain steps, stumbling with each one she took.

"You okay?" Danielle asked.

"I don't know..." Clementine said.

"Does it hurt?" Molly questioned.

"A little..." Clementine said honestly.

Clementine managed to take a few more steps before collapsing to her knees.

"Are you alright?" Molly asked the child.

Clementine trembled, tears filling her eyes. "I can't do it..."

"Clem... Don't cry..." Molly said.

"I can't... I can't walk..." Clementine's lip started quivering as she spoke. "I can't do it... I...I..." More tears spilled, leaving her unable to continue.

"Clementine, knock it off." Molly called. "Don't start crying."

But the tears kept coming, as if she hadn't heard a word Molly said.

Molly sighed, "Clementine, don't cry. Please don't cry."

She pulled the child into her lap, wiping away the girl's tears. "Calm down. Take a breath."

Clementine sniffled, and took a deep breath.

Soon enough the tears stopped.

"I'm sorry." Clementine said.

"Are you okay?" Danielle asked worriedly.

"Yeah…" Clementine nodded.

Molly tsked. "Try again."

Clementine shook her head. "I can't do it..."

"Of course, you can." Molly forced the girl to stand. "Go on. Try."

Clementine hesitated before taking a step.

It took a few more tries, but eventually Clementine managed to walk. She was limping, but it was progress.

"Good job, Clem." Molly said.

The girl smiled happily as Molly praised her.

"Thanks." Clementine said.

* * *

Molly made the decision to wait another day, letting the girls rest up.

That night she packed all their stuff up, doing another check over the house for anything she could have missed. During her search, she managed to find a cane which she figured Clementine could use as a walking stick if need be it.

Once she was done looking around she laid down to catch some sleep.

Hours later, she emerged gently from her sleep into wakefulness just as the sun was starting to rise.

The girls slept a little longer before waking as well.

Immediately they took interest in the cane Molly had found.

"What's this for?" Clementine asked curiously.

"For you." Molly replied.

"Me?" Clementine puzzled.

"To help you walk." Molly said.

"Oh…" Clementine gave an understanding nod. "Can I try it?"

"Sure." Molly shrugged.

With a bit of hesitation, Clementine picked up the cane and tried to walk with it.

It took Clementine a moment to get used to the cane, but eventually she got the hang of it.

* * *

After getting the girls fed, the three headed out.

They walked for about a quarter-mile or so. The wind was strong. It was much colder than the house they had just left.

Molly was glad she had found the children warmer clothes.

They passed by a few geeks that fortunately didn't take notice of them.

Molly felt Danielle squeeze her hand. She looked down and she could see the fear in the girl's eyes. The child was afraid. Molly could sense it. And no wonder. The little girl had the right to be terrified of those "monsters".

Danielle's eyes were wide, and she was trembling. Molly held the girl's hand, trying to calm her fear.

"Come on..." Molly said, tugging the girl forward.

After walking a couple miles Molly looked to Clementine who was limping along with her little walking stick.

Molly expected Clementine to complain about her leg but the girl never did. If it bothered her she didn't show it.

Regardless, Molly figured she shouldn't be on her leg too much considering how bad her injury had been. She offered to carry the child. Clementine refused. However, Molly wasn't taking no for an answer. Clementine gave a weak protest as Molly scooped her up, but eventually gave in.

Only a few blocks later they arrived at a commercial building. They worked their way through the outer entrance, where they came to a gate that was shut, but to Molly's wonderful surprise, it wasn't locked.

They went through the gate. To the side of the building, in a corner was a metal dumpster with an open lid.

"Molly?" Danielle uttered quietly.

"Yes?" Molly replied.

"What are you doing?" Danielle asked as the woman gently placed Clementine on her feet and shut the dumpster lid.

Molly sighed. "We're going to climb..."

"To where?" Clementine asked.

"Onto the roof." Molly said.

"Really?" Danielle looked a bit worried.

"Scared of heights?" Molly asked the girl.

"No..." Danielle said.

"Good." Molly replied.

"Why are we climbing up there?" Clementine asked.

"To get to the bell tower." Molly didn't care to explain any further.

The children looked a bit frightened, but made no protest.

Molly carefully lifted Danielle up and placed her on top of the dumpster before doing the same with Clementine. After that, she helped the two children onto the roof, following closely behind them

* * *

The wind surrounded them eerily, almost as if warning of dangers.

Molly looked around, from the rooftop she could see better what was going on. In the middle of the road below them there were several geeks, but it was nothing to panic about.

"Now what?" Clementine asked.

"You two stay here." Molly said to them.

"What are you going to do?" Danielle questioned, a bit nervously.

"I'm going to ring that bell." Molly said, motioning towards the bell-tower

"Why?" Danielle asked.

"The noise will draw the geek's attention, and if we're lucky, it will draw Christa and Omid too." Molly explained.

"That's a good idea." Clementine said.

"Right." Molly said.

"W-Wait. You want to bring the m-monsters to us?" Danielle stammered.

"They won't be able to reach us from down there." Molly said.

"Are you sure… T-They can't climb?" Danielle asked.

"They won't be able to get up here. Don't worry." Molly said.

Danielle swallowed. "Okay…"

Molly looked to the two girls, "Stay here."

The girls nodded.

Molly walked to the far edge of the roof, looking to the bell tower. She paused before launching herself across the five-foot gap, using Hilda to grab the ledge of the bell-tower. She pulled herself up.

"Wow..." Danielle commented in amazement. "That was super cool!"

Molly chuckled to herself. Molly took the bell rope in her hands. She paused. If she rang that bell there was a chance that the noise would bring Christa and Omid, however, it was also possible that they weren't alive.

She knew the noise would draw the geeks. And if that happened they would have to lay low until they cleared out again. Had she been by herself she would have been able to hop the roofs, but she wasn't going to risk it with the children.

Still, she promised Clementine. This may be their best shot at finding Christa and Omid, and the two of them probably would be willing to take the girls off her hands. Sure, she cared about the girls, but she didn't know what to do with them. She didn't think she was qualified to take care of the children and it was best to give them to people who were.

She made up her mind.

Molly gave the rope a strong pull, ringing the bell.


	12. Chapter 12

**_Thanks to gaara king of the sand for the help._**

* * *

With each day that passed the city became a more eerie place to be. They traveled shorter and shorter each day, finding no survivors.

They were no strangers to travelling. It was what they wanted to do, travel the world together, but they never expected it to be like this. The two had been in Savannah for several weeks and they were started to think there was little reason for them to linger. There was no sign of Clementine, or Lee, or anyone else for that matter. Savannah was basically dead, and full of the dead.

Christa felt saddened at the thought of such a kind man like Lee and a young child meeting such a devastating end.

It was cold, dark and wet. Christa and Omid knew there was not much left to do. Their search for Clementine had been in vain. They were going to run out of food eventually and Savannah was by no means a safe place.

"What do you want to do?" Omid asked.

Christa sent him a look. "What else can we do? We don't have many options here."

Omid frowned, "We tried Christa… Now we have to think about ourselves… About the baby." He didn't want to leave, but they had great doubts that anyone else survived. There was no point in staying any longer than they had to.

"I know…" Christa sighed. "We'll leave tomorrow."

"You sure." Omid asked.

"Yeah. Our lives are pretty straightforward now. We just need to find food and shelter and stay alive." Christa said in a no-nonsense tone.

And so, the next morning when they woke they packed their stuff and got ready to leave Savannah.

They kept their bags close by, full of enough supplies and ammunition to last a couple of days, which they had searched several houses to gain.

"How do you feel?" Omid questioned.

Christa took a moment to respond. "Like I'm getting fat. I swear I've gained ten pounds overnight."

"Well... you are expecting." Omid chuckled.

"Yeah, but I shouldn't be gaining weight that fast. Hell, we've barely eaten anything for the past few days." Christa said.

Omid smirked, "Who knows. Maybe he's a big baby."

Christa shook her head. "Don't say that. I have to push that thing out."

"Alright, alright." Omid nodded. "On a serious note… How do you feel?"

"I'm fine." Christa said. "I just wish we could have done more…"

"We did all we could." Omid said. "It's a bad situation."

"I guess…" Christa said. "Anyway… Let's keep moving."

"Right." Omid said.

* * *

The closer they drew to the Savannah border the more apprehensive Christa became. She wanted answers regarding what happened to the other though she felt she knew already.

After two hours of walking they suddenly stopped as Christa pointed to a nearby house and declared, "Somebody's in there."

"How do you know?" Omid asked.

"I just do." Christa stated.

Omid stood in silence, surveying the house. "You sure about that?"

"Yes." Christa replied.

"Alright. I've grown to trust your instincts- at least most of the time." Omid said.

Christa shot him a look, she was about to respond when they suddenly noticed a figure walk past the window on the second floor of the house.

The two of them exchanged glances. Christa pulled out her gun and headed towards the building. Omid followed close behind.

"How do you want to do this… Front door or back door?" Omid asked.

"We'll both try the front." Christa decided.

They slowly walked up to the front of the house and tried the door. Much to their surprise, the door was locked. However, they were sure someone was inside.

"What should we do?" Omid asked. "Door's locked."

"We're going inside." Christa stated, digging into her pocket for a bobby pin. She used the pin to try to pick the lock. She worked on the door for a couple minutes before letting Omid have a try.

Omid decided to use different tactics, lunging against the door. After many tries and several bruises to the forearms, the door finally gave away.

"Well...?" Omid smirked.

"Good job." Christa rolled her eyes.

"Thank you. Thank you." Omid said.

It was dark and hard to see. They made their way through the darkened housing using the light of a flashlight that they had.

As they looked around they suddenly heard a noise from upstairs. Omid flashed the light to the top of the staircase and into the darkened hallway. Seeing no one, they proceeded with caution up the stairs.

"Alright, you check the bathroom. I'll check the bedroom." Christa said.

"Okay." Omid said.

"Be careful." Christa said.

Omid gave a nod. "Got it."

Christa grabbed her own flashlight, turning it on. She entered a huge, empty bedroom. She flashed the light beam around only to see a figure moving by the window, in the corner of the room.

She sucked in a breath and quickly took aim with her gun.

As she shined her light at the person, they suddenly whipped around and Christa felt her heart lurch. It was a snarling walker. With its jaws snapping, the creature approached her.

Christa wasted no time in putting a bullet into the walker's head.

Upon hearing the gunshot, Omid quickly made his way to the bedroom. He gave a knock at the door before going inside.

Christa immediately turned and trained her weapon on the man, before quickly lowering it.

"You okay." Omid asked in a concerned voice.

"Yeah… Next time, you check the bedroom." Christa said.

"What? No fair. We'll rock, paper, scissors for it." Omid said.

Christa sent him a glare.

"Alright, alright." Omid sighed.

They made their way downstairs before Christa suddenly stopped.

"Did you hear that?" She asked.

Omid raised a brow, "What?"

"The bells." Christa said.

Omid looked even more confused than before. "Bells?"

"Yes." Christa said.

Omid was silent for a moment before suddenly bursting into laughter. "Bells! Like alarm bells." He laughed. "Good one, Christa!"

"Omid, I'm being serious!"

Omid stopped laughing. "You are?"

"Yes!"

Omid's own expression became serious, "Are you sure you heard something?"

Christa paused for a moment. "I don't know… Maybe I just thought I heard it."

"Maybe… We're both pretty exhausted. It's been a long day." Omid said.

"Yeah." Christa agreed.

The woman put her hands on her temples, massaging them. "Let's just go."

Omid gave a nod.

They stepped outside, and a chilled wind brushed their faces. The sky was grey, and they knew it would probably rain soon.

In the distance they could hear a bell...

Omid's eyes widened.

"You hear them now?" Christa asked.

"Yep." Omid said.

"Good. So, I'm not crazy." Christa said.

"I don't know about that?" Omid joked.

"Omid..." Christa sighed. "You know what... You're right. I'm crazy enough to be in love with you."

Omid chuckled, "True."

They could now hear the bells clear as day.

"How the hell didn't I hear it before?" Omid wondered.

Christa shrugged.

"It's coming from the bell tower..." Omid said.

"Exactly... Meaning... Someone's ringing that bell!" Christa stated.

* * *

"Alright Clementine, we've tried." Molly called over to the child.

Clementine shook her head. They couldn't just give up now. "Just try again... Please?"

Molly sighed and gave the bell one final ring. She then carefully made her way back to the other room. "We're going to wait up here." She told the girls. "Once the geeks clear out we're gone. Got it?"

Clementine frowned but nodded.

"Good." Molly said.

* * *

Christa and Omid ran towards the sound. Omid figured that it must have been Lee ringing those bells. Maybe he had somehow made it out alive? He just hoped his hunch was right.

Christa however, had other thought. Whoever was ringing those bells was a threat… To her, to Omid, to their baby.

Upon arrived in front of the bell tower the woman pulled out her gun and started firing at the roof, much to Omid's horror.

"Christa, what are you doing?!" Omid demanded.

The woman ignored him, and continued to fire shots.

* * *

Danielle peeked over the edge of the building. She gulped as she noticed how high they were. She wondered how much longer they would be up there. She glanced over to Molly and Clementine, wondering if the people they were looking for had heard the bells.

"Danielle!" Molly suddenly called, causing the child to flinch. "Get away from the edge!"

Danielle froze for a brief second. That brief second saved her life as a bullet whizzed past her head.

Clementine let out a gasp as Danielle quickly stumbled back, eyes wide with horror.

"Shit…" Molly huffed. "Get down. Get down.

Frantic, Danielle dropped to the ground beside her friend, who looked just as terrified as she was.

Panting, the girls listened for more shots. Seconds became minutes as they waited.

"Is it over?" Danielle asked Molly in a whisper.

"I don't know… Just stay down." Molly responded. Molly stayed low, making her way to the edge of the roof. She glanced down and was surprised when she noticed two people. "You done?!" She called in annoyance.

* * *

"Christa, stop!" Omid said, grabbing the gun.

"What are you doing?!" Christa demanded, "Those bells are going to get us killed."

"Christa, think. Nobody is here. We're the only ones in Savannah other than Lee, Clem, and probably Molly that are still alive."

Christa's eyes softened, realizing Omid's words were true.

"You done?" Came a voice.

Christa and Omid quickly looked up and were surprised to see Molly.

"Well shit... Speak of the devil." Omid shook his head in surprise.

Christa was shocked as well, "Molly?"

Clementine's eyes widened in surprise upon hearing the voices. She tried to call out but her words wouldn't come.

Molly continued to look over the edge, noticing some walkers we starting to approached the two. "You guys better make your way up here… You got geeks on the way." Molly said.

"Fuck…" Omid swore.

Omid and Christa attempted to make their way through the undead monsters. The dead were quickly closing in on the two.

"Get up here!" Molly called. "Use the fire escape! I'll cover you!"

Molly pulled out her gun and started shooting at the walkers as Christa and Omid sprinted toward the fire escape.

"Go!" Omid said.

Christa hesitated for a moment before she started climbing the ladder. Once she was halfway up, Omid grabbed the ladder and started climbing. As he started climbing, he suddenly felt a walker grab his ankle, pulling him. Omid fell to the ground.

"Omid!" Christa cried. "Get up!"

"Sorry. I thought it was the perfect time for a nap." Omid said sarcastically. He quickly rolled, giving the walker a kick. Scrambling to his feet, Omid started up the ladder again.

The same creature tried to grab him for a second time, but Molly quickly shot it, causing the monster to fall.

Once the two were on the roof they took a few moments to catch their breath. Omid suddenly broke the silence saying, "I'm not going to lie… That was pretty fun."

Christa rolled her eyes as Molly shook her head in disbelief.

* * *

"Why were you shooting at us?" Molly asked Christa and Omid as the took sat on the roof.

"WE weren't shooting at you." Omid said.

Christa sighed. "Sorry about that. I didn't realize it was you."

"We've had some…interesting days, for lack of better words." Omid added. "We were a bit on guard."

"Yeah… Same for us." Molly said. "It just scared the girls."

Omid raised a brow. "The girls?"

Both Omid and Christa turned and noticed the two children, covering in the corner of the roof, still shaken by what had just happened.

"Clementine!" Christa exclaimed.

Christa and Omid ran over to the girl.

"How are you, honey?" Christa asked.

Clementine lowered her head. She didn't know why but she couldn't bring herself to respond, and for some reason she couldn't stop herself from trembling.

"We've been looking all over for you…" Christa said.

Clementine still offered no response.

Christa noticed the child trembling and reached out to touch the girl.

"NO!" Clementine cried out, flinched back.

Christa quickly retracted her hand.

Omid frowned. "I guess you're not up to talking?" He shrugged. He glanced over to Danielle with a curious look. He knelt beside the child, "Hey there. What's your name?"

"N-No! GET AWAY!" Danielle shouted, she was also shaking in fear of the strangers.

Omid immediately moved back, startled by the child's yell.

Danielle continued to shake. Clementine looked to her friend in concern as the younger girl suddenly began crying.

"Dani…" Molly approached the girl, "It's alright." She pulled the child into a hug, trying her best to comfort her. "We're probably going to be here for a while." Molly said to Christa and Omid. "You two might as well get comfortable."

Christa and Omid were bewildered.

"What the hell happened?" Christa asked.

* * *

It had taken several minutes for Molly to soothe Danielle, but eventually the child did calm down.

Now the two little girls were coloring in the coloring book that Molly had packed from the house.

"What happened?" Christa asked quietly, glancing over to the child.

Molly let out a breath, "A lot has happened.

They waited for her to continue.

"I found them…. A couple weeks ago… They were in the woods, no clothes, running from some fuckers." Molly explained.

Omid's eyes widened, "W-What?"

"They… They weren't...?" Christa stammered, trailing off.

"Yeah… They were…" Molly said. "They were outside of Savannah when I found them…. We came back to find some supplies and Clementine wanted to figure out if you guys were still here before we took off."

"Damnit!" Christa snapped. "How didn't we notice her leave…?"

"Christa…" Molly sighed.

Christa spoke in an angry voice. "We should've looked harder."

"We tried our best to find her." Omid said, frowning over the information they were just told.

"She's safe now… Those people are dead." Molly said.

"Good. I'd kill them myself if I had the chance." Christa said.

* * *

"Are they your friends?" Danielle asked, motioning to Christa and Omid.

Clementine looked unsure for a moment then nodded.

"Are they nice?" Danielle questioned warily.

Clementine gave another nod.

"Why won't you say anything?" Danielle wondered.

Clementine shrugged in response this time. She used the crayon to write a single word in the coloring book. "Can't."

Danielle read it and frowned. "Why? Are you sick?"

Clementine shook her head, giving another shrug.

Danielle didn't say anything else. It was like when they were with the bad people. Clementine had just stopped talking.

Danielle glanced over to Christa and Omid with a worried look. She wasn't sure if she could trust them.

"Molly…" Danielle called.

"Yes?" Molly answered.

"When are we leaving?" The eight-year-old asked.

"We'll stay here for the night." Molly said.

"O-On the roof?" Danielle looked worried.

"Afraid of heights?" Omid asked.

Danielle looked away, not wanting to speak to the man.

"We'll head out in the morning." Molly said.

"It's going to rain…" Christa said. "We're going to sleep on the roof in the rain? The girls are going to get sick."

"We don't have a choice. There's walkers all around us." Molly said.

"Damn it." Christa huffed.

"Anyway… Girls, it's time for bed." Molly said.

The girls nodded, closing their coloring book.

Molly dug into her bag, pulling out a blanket. She walked over to the children and draped the blanket over them as they laid down.

"You okay, Clem?" Molly asked the child, who hadn't uttered a word for a couple hours.

Clementine nodded.

"Alright…" Molly said. "Get some rest."

"We might as well do the same." Omid said.

"Yeah…" Christa agreed.

The group settled down and went to bed.

* * *

Hours later Clementine woke in the middle of the night and stared into the darkness. The child rubbed sleep out of her eyes and looked around.

She could just make out a figure, standing at the edge of the roof. For a moment she panicked before realizing it was Molly.

"Molly?" The child sat up. "What are you doing? Where are you going?"

Molly jumped as if not expecting anyone to be awake.

The woman took a couple moments to reply.

"Nowhere... I'm just... leaving." Molly said.

"W-What?" Clementine asked puzzled. "Leaving where? It's really late at night."

"I know..." Molly said. "Listen Clem... I don't do well with groups... or people in general..." Losing her sister was proof of that, she couldn't do anything to save her and she didn't want to lose Clementine and Danielle too.

"That's not true." Clementine argued. "You've been nice to Danielle and I."

"Yeah... I care about you... I really do..." Molly said. Why was she still there? She didn't owe Clementine an explanation, but it felt like something was holding her back. "I'm not good at taking care of people. To be honest, I have no idea what I'm doing with you two."

Clementine frowned. "But you've been helping us... You've been taking care of us this entire time..."

"...I'm just going to leave." Molly said. "Christa and Omid will take care of you. You'll be safe..." A lot safer than they'd be if she stuck around.

"So that's all... You save us, teach us how to use a gun, then abandon us?" Clementine demanded, fighting back tears.

"It's not like that Clem." Molly said.

"Then what is it?!" Clementine snapped, tears brimming the corners of her eyes.

"It's not my job. I'm not fit to be around people, especially children." Molly said.

"Why not?" Clementine asked.

"I'm just better off alone." Molly said before shaking her head. "I'm not going to argue with an eight-year-old." And yet she was still there.

The girl frowned. "I'm nine."

"I'm not going to argue with you Clem." Molly stated.

"Why are you doing this…?" Clementine asked, tears were falling now. She couldn't hold them back anymore. "Dani and I need you."

"You don't need me… You two will be fine. Just take care of yourselves and each other." Molly said.

"No!" Clementine cried. "I don't want you to leave."

"I'm going... Don't try to stop me Clem." Molly said. She put out a resisting hand as Clementine stood. She didn't know what was stopping her. She shouldn't be talking to the child, she should be leaving.

"Please don't go..." Clementine said. "I don't want you to leave."

"Clem... Don't cry..." Molly frowned as she heard the child start to whimper.

However, the child couldn't stop herself. She began weeping.

"Clementine stop. You're going to wake someone up." Molly scolded. "Stop crying."

Clementine didn't stop. In fact, she cried louder. Her sobs were enough to wake Christa and Omid.

"What's going on?" Christa asked.

"Nothing… I'm leaving." Molly answer truthfully. She saw no point in lying to the couple.

"What? Why?" Omid asked.

"I'm not a group person… You two are better suited to taking care of the girls than I am." Molly replied.

"They trust you…" Christa said.

"In time they'll trust you too." Molly replied.

"But they trust you now… You're the one who saved them… You can't just leave them like that." Christa said.

Molly frowned, looking to Clementine who was still crying.

"They need you." Omid said.

Molly was silent for a moment.

The only noise was Clementine's broken sobs.

Molly let out a sighed, "Alright."

"Hmm?" Omid raised a brow.

"I'll stay." Molly said. "But the second things start going downhill, I'm leaving."

"Fair enough." Omid said.

Molly walked towards Clementine, and pulled the weeping child into a hug. "Don't cry..."

"But... But you're-" Clementine started to say.

"I'm not leaving..." Molly told the child.

"Promise?" Clementine sniffled.

"I promise." Molly said.

The noise had woken, Danielle who looked over in concern. "Is Clementine okay?"

"Yeah Dani." Molly said, pulling Clementine into her arms, she walked over to Danielle and took a seat beside the girl, with Clementine in her lap.

"Come on, go back to sleep." Molly said to Danielle.

The girl nodded, closing her eyes.

Soon enough Clementine calmed down and not too long later the girl had fallen asleep.

Christa smiled at the sight while Omid snorted.

"Can't take care of people my ass." Omid said.

Molly frowned. She would stick to her promise, unless things went downhill, she told her herself.

But deep inside, she knew she was getting attached to those girls and if things were to go wrong, she didn't know if she would actually be able to bring herself to leave. She hoped staying would be the right choice.


	13. Chapter 13

**_Thanks to gaara king of the sand for the help._**

* * *

Molly didn't sleep much that night. She couldn't stop thinking about if she made the right choice. Eventually, she did end up drifting off.

By the time morning came, most of the walkers had cleared out. A few still lingered around, but it was nothing that they wouldn't be able to handle.

Molly woke up, and was eager to head out. She wasn't used to staying in one spot for too long, however she knew that the girls could use some more rest, and she didn't plan on waking them up.

Molly glanced at the two little girls. She felt a bit awkward after that tantrum Clementine threw last night. She didn't know why she stayed. She should have left. She knew it would be so much harder if she got attached.

Molly felt Clementine stir and shushed the child. Molly paused, a look akin to panic on her face. Was she attached already? She didn't want to get attached to anyone. She was still trying to get her life on track after losing her sister.

If she was staying she needed to teach the children how to protect themselves. Especially considering they were abused, she knew abused children were vulnerable to further abuse, and she'd be damned if she let anything happen to them. The girls were old enough to comprehend that the world was dangerous. Now they needed to know how to protect themselves from the dangers that awaited them.

She couldn't understand, but truly she felt like she had no choice. Maybe this was her second chance. Maybe she could protect these girls, the way she had desperately tried to protect her sister. This was a big life change for Molly, one that she didn't even allow herself to dream about, but maybe… she was ready for it.

"They seem pretty attached to you..." Christa commented, pulling Molly out of her thoughts.

Molly looked over to the woman. "Yeah..."

"How do you feel?" Christa said. "I'm sure you three have bonded."

"No... No bonding." Molly denied firmly. "I don't even know _how_ to bond with people."

Christa scoffed, "I'd beg to differ."

"What?" Molly said.

"From the looks of it, you've done a pretty good job." Christa said. "They obviously love you."

Molly felt proud to hear that, although she wouldn't admit it.

"I'm glad you stayed." Christa said.

"Me too…" Molly mumbled, without thinking.

Christa said nothing, a small smile on her lips.

* * *

After a couple hours passed, and everyone was awake, the group started to head out.

They made their way off the roof, effortlessly taking out the few remaining walkers.

Molly noted that the children were being extremely quiet, more so than usually. She assumed that it had something to do with Christa and Omid's presence.

Christa and Omid also picked up on the two girls' uncomfortableness. The two wouldn't even spar them a glance.

They finally took a break an hour later. By this time, they were well out of Savannah.

The girls had to use the bathroom and Danielle had mentioned being hungry. As Molly took the children to the bathroom, Christa prepared them some food.

It felt awkward as the group sat on the dew-dampened grass.

"Well… It's awful quiet." Omid said.

"Yeah…" Molly muttered.

"Umm… We're glad you're safe, Clem." Omid told the nine-year-old.

Clementine looked away, not offering a response.

Omid scratched the back of his head. "You know Christa's going to have a baby?"

That statement caused everyone's eyes to widen.

"Omid!" Christa huffed.

"What?" Omid asked.

"Forget it." Christa sighed.

"You're pregnant?" Molly asked, surprised.

"Yeah… I was going to tell you..." Christa said.

"When?" Molly asked.

"I don't know…" Christa said. "But I was going to tell you guys… I promise."  
"Well… at least it's good news." Omid said.

"Things won't be easy." Molly sighed. "Two kids and a baby…"

"But there's three of us…" Omid mentioned.

Molly said nothing; she was getting used to the companionship, she enjoyed having the children around, but groups were never her thing.

"Hear that girls?" Omid grinned, "Christa's gonna have baby…"

He was hoping to get a smile from the children, but instead they both kept their heads low, saying nothing.

"I guess you still don't want to talk?" Omid said.

"…She said she can't…" Danielle finally spoke up.

Christa was surprised to hear that. "Why not?"

Clementine shrugged.

Molly was confused, the girl had just spoken her during their bathroom break, why couldn't she speak now?

"I heard you talk last night…" Christa said.

Clementine nodded.

"But you can't now?" Omid asked.

Clementine gave another nod.

"You can't or you don't want to?" Molly questioned.

Clementine looked down for a moment, shrugging once more.

Christa paused for a moment, "…Sounds like selective mutism."

"What's that?" Omid asked.

"Selective mutism is a disorder where someone is capable of speaking, but can't in certain situations." Christa explained.

"Is… Is she sick?" Danielle asked, looking worried.

"No…" Christa said, "Considering what you two have been through, it's completely normal."

The girls' eyes widened.

"Molly told us…" Christa told the children.

"Why?" Danielle said. "That's none of your business…"

"I'm sorry." Christa frowned, "I'm sorry that those people hurt you girls."

Clementine clenched her eyes shut, she didn't want to think about that; not now, not ever again.

"We don't want to talk about it…" Danielle said.

"I… I think you should…" Christa said.

"P-Please don't make us…" Danielle whimpered.

"Alright… Fine." Christa nodded, she wasn't going to push the children to talk if they didn't want to. "I just got to ask you something…"

Danielle was quiet for a moment, an untrusting look on her face. "…Okay."

Christa seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking, "…Do you two understand what happened to you?"

The girls were quiet before Clementine finally shook her head sadly.

"People hurt us…" Danielle said in a quiet voice. "Bad people…"

"Yeah…" Christa said before letting out a sigh. The poor children didn't even understand what had happened to them.

The group fell into an uncomfortable silence. They finished their meal without a word.

Christa wasn't expecting for Danielle to ask, "Do you know what happened to us?"

"Yes…" Christa answered the child honestly. She was glad that the girl was finally feeling comfortable enough to speak with her, she just wished they could get Clementine to speak as well.

"…What happened?" Danielle asked. "What did they do to us?"

Christa bit back a sigh, "…You were raped."

"What's raped?" Danielle questioned.

When Christa didn't answer right away, the child asked again, "What is raped?"

"Rape is when someone forces you to touch their private area, or when they touch yours without permission." Christa explained to the girls.

"Why do people do things like that?" Danielle asked.

"Because there are some men in the world who think it's okay to treat women that way. It's not. No one should touch anyone without their permission. Fortunately, not all guys are like that…" Christa said.

Danielle frowned motioning to Omid, who was helping Molly pack up their supplies. "Is he?"

"No… He would never hurt anyone. He can't even hurt a fly." Christa said.

Danielle frowned, she wanted to believe Christa, but she didn't know if she could just yet. "It's not just guys…"

"Hmm?" Christa said.

"Some girls like to hurt people too." Danielle explained.

Clementine nodded in confirmation.

"That's true, but no one here will ever hurt you." Christa reassured the children, or tried to reassure the children.

"You said no one should touch anyone without permission… So… some people want to be touched?" Danielle asked, looking confused.

Christa paused, "Sometimes touching can make a person feel good…"

"It didn't make us feel good." Danielle shook her head.

"Well… that stuff shouldn't have been done to you. Sex is supposed to be between you and your husband… or whoever you love…but that's when you're older." Christa said.

"What's sex…?" Danielle asked.

And so, Christa explained sex to them, telling them it was a normal human activity and it shouldn't be done unless it was with the person they loved. She told them some of the complications, while doing her best not to scare the children.

"Why do people do that?" Danielle asked.

"There are different reasons why people have sex. Sometimes it's because of pleasure, or when two people are in love. Or when people want to have a baby…" Christa said. "That's why sex is for grownups."

"Then why did the bad people do it to us?" Danielle questioned sadly.

"Because… some people in this world are sick… and they like to hurt children…" Christa said. "Do you have any more questions?"

The girls both shook their heads.

"Aright…" Christa said. "Just let me know if you do…"

The girls now nodded.

"You guys ready to hit the road again?" Molly asked.

"Yeah." Christa said.

With that the group headed out.

* * *

After a day had passed without Clementine uttering a word to Christa or Omid, the group was worried.

Christa wondered how long Clementine wasn't going to be able to speak, she needed a solution, and she thought she had one.

"Alright, Clem…" Christa took a seat beside the young girl, who was currently coloring with Danielle.

Clementine raised a brow, but said nothing.

"If you can't talk with your voice… I'm going to teach you another way."

Clementine was confused but nodded.

"I'm going to teach you sign language." Christa explained to the girl.

Clementine nodded.

"You know sign language?" Danielle asked.

"Studied it for a couple years. I was working to become a nurse before all this, and I took sign language, figuring it couldn't hurt to know it." Christa explained to the girls.

"...Can I learn?" Danielle asked.

"Sure. I'd love to teach you." Christa smiled.

* * *

The next few days, Christa spent teaching the girls various signs. They were learning fast; Christa was impressed.

"You girls learn fast." She told them.

The two smiled in response.

Christa suddenly noticed Clementine sign the word "question" to her.

"You have a question?" Christa asked.

Clementine nodded.

"Okay…" Christa said. "What is it?"

Clementine paused for a moment.

Christa waited patiently, but wasn't expecting to hear the girl talk.

"How did that baby get in your stomach?" Clementine asked.

Christa was quiet for a moment, thinking of an appropriate answer for Clementine's question. She wouldn't lie to the children, but they didn't need all the details either. She would go more into the topic when they got older.

"Well… When two people love each other, they both make the decision to have a baby. In order to make that baby… The man and woman have to have sex…" Christa explained.

"Why? It hurts." Danielle asked. "Why would you want to do that?"

"Well… like I said… When you're in love and the time is right, sex isn't a bad thing." Christa said. "But you have to love the person you do it with and you both have to want it."

"So how does the baby get there?" Clementine asked.

"When you're grown up and you have sex with someone you love, the love from both of them is placed to into the woman's stomach. The love grows over time, becoming a baby. After night months a beautiful baby is born." Christa said.

"Does it hurt?" Clementine wondered.

"Yes, when you give birth it does hurt, however, it's completely worth it when the parents get to see that baby." Christa said.

"Does it hurt now…?" Danielle asked.

"Not really." Christa replied. "Once in a while I do feel a little nauseous."

"What's that mean?" Clementine asked.

"I get a little sick to my stomach." Christa answered. "But after that I feel a lot better. Anyway… I'm more worried about you two… How do you girls feel?"

Clementine and Danielle exchanged looks.

"We're fine." Danielle said.

"Are you really?" Christa asked. "I know it's hard to talk about, but I really think you should."

"We don't want to…" Clementine shook her head. "Please don't make us."

Christa frowned. "I won't… I'll wait until you're ready…"

"Thank you…" Clementine said.

"Yeah…" Christa muttered. She knew she couldn't force them to talk, but she also knew they wouldn't get better if they kept it bottle up. They had been emotionally traumatized and if they kept it inside it would start eating at them. "How do you feel on another note? Are either of you hurting in any way?"

The girls quickly shook their head.

Christa couldn't tell if they were being honest, or if they just didn't want to admit it. It was obvious that the children didn't completely trust her or Omid yet.

It hurt, but know what they had gone through, Christa couldn't blame them.

Christa was willing to be patient with them. Eventually, they would come to be more comfortable around her. It was a gradual process.

* * *

During their time together, Christa realized more and more just how emotionally damaged the two children were.

Both kids were frightened of just about everything. Christa knew that their fear made them vulnerable.

The woman didn't know what to do… The girls refused to talk about what had happened, and Christa knew that talking was the best way to help them. They wouldn't even talk about it with Molly, who they seemed to trust completely.

Each time one of the children would wake up from a nightmare, Christa and Molly would do their best to comfort them. Omid wanted to help as well, not baring to see the girls cry but Molly and Christa worried he would startle the children, if they had just woken from a nightmare, because he was male.

There wasn't much they could do to help the children. Even now as Clementine whimpered in her arms, all Christa could do to sooth her was sing her a song called "Down by the Valley", which eventually lulled the child back to sleep.

Was it something? Yes. Was it enough. Not nearly and that frustrated Christa.

The girls didn't want to talk about what happened to them. They didn't want to talk about much with her and Christa was well aware of that. In fact, it seemed the only thing they really cared to talk about with her was the baby.

Clementine and Danielle were extremely taken up with the baby Christa was carrying. Both girls never had siblings so the thought of a baby was exciting. More so for Clementine who couldn't wait to help take care of the child.

Danielle, on the other hand, was slightly anxious at the thought of a baby joining their group in a few months. Babies cried, crying was noise, and noise drew walkers.

Danielle wanted to avoid the walkers at all cost, she had seen what they could do to a person, and now that she knew they didn't only hurt bad people, she was terrified of the creatures. She just hoped those things didn't get to her mommy…

"Molly…" Danielle called, her voice sounding worried.

"Yes, Dani?" Molly relied.

"When can we go find my mommy?" Danielle asked.

Molly made no answer for a moment or two. "Where exactly is your mom?"

"She's in Georgia. We need to go find her. Can't we please?"

"Tell you what," Christa cut in. "We find a working vehicle and I'll be more than happy to take a trip down to Georgia to look for your mom."

"Really?" Danielle asked.

"Really." Christa replied.

"Sounds like a road trip." Omid smirked. "I'm in."

"That's IF we find a vehicle." Christa said.

"Sounds reasonable." Molly agreed. She knew the chance that Danielle's mother was alive was slim to none. But she wasn't going to shoot the child's hopes down. "We have nothing to lose."

"Alright… It's settled then." Christa said. "Once we find a vehicle, we'll go search for your mom."

Danielle smiled, "Thank you." She just hoped that they found a vehicle soon.


	14. Chapter 14

The days went on with them being on the road, leaving the group tired and apprehensive.

Danielle held hope that they would soon find a vehicle, and was a bit more disappointed with each day that passed without them finding one.

Danielle's eagerness was all too familiar to Clementine, who remembered having the same high hopes that her parents would be alive and waiting to reunite with her. When she saw them in Savannah, her whole world came crashing down. Clementine hoped Danielle wouldn't have to experience that same pain.

Clementine could tell her friend was getting more and more anxious as the days went on.

"Why is finding a vehicle so hard?" Danielle sighed.

Clementine shrugged. "Probably because were in the middle of the woods."

"We haven't even been looking. How are we going to find a vehicle if we don't take the time to search for it?" Danielle asked.

"I don't know, Dani." Clementine knew the grown-ups wouldn't go looking for a car unless they absolutely needed it.

"We're wasting time. We could be on our way already." Danielle said.

"Calm down, Danielle. It's going to be okay." Clementine reassured her friend.

Danielle shook her head. "I need to find my mommy. That's what's important to me. Making sure she's okay."

"And we'll do that." Clementine said.

"Not fast enough." Danielle responded.

Clementine frowned thinking of something to say to her friend.

"What if we go?" Danielle suddenly asked before Clementine got the chance to speak again.

"Go where?" Clementine asked.

"Find us a car... Or something..." Danielle said.

Clementine thought about it. A car would probably be useful for the group, but how would they know if it had gas. "Just us?"

Danielle nodded. "Yeah. Why not? We both know how to shoot."

That was true. But knowing how to shoot wasn't the same as knowing how to survive.

"Please?" Danielle asked. "We'll watch each other's backs."

Clementine was nervous. The last time she had been alone she got hurt and those bad people found her. "I don't know, Dani..."

"Why?"

"It's dangerous…" Clementine said.

"Everything is dangerous…" Danielle stated.

"What if something bad happened to us, Dani?" Clementine questioned.

"It won't." Danielle claimed.

"You don't know that." Clementine said.

"I just want to find my mom. And they're not taking me seriously." Danielle said.

"I know, Dani…" Clementine felt the same way when she had wanted to search for her parents. She knew exactly what her friend was going through. "But we need to think this through."

"I have." Danielle said.

"Just because we find a car, doesn't mean it'll be in driving condition. We don't know what to look for."

"We'll figure it out. How hard can it be?" Danielle said.

Clementine sighed.

Danielle sent her friend a pleading look.

"I'll think about it, Dani." Clementine said after a few moments.

"Really?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah…" Clementine said.

"Thank you." Danielle beamed. "Thanks so much, Clem."

"Of course. We're friends." Clementine said.

* * *

And somehow, Clementine had allowed her friend to convince her to go search for a vehicle.

The two waited up nightfall, knowing that was their best chance.

After supper the two children had pretended to go to bed. Waiting patiently, for the adults to go to sleep.

The girls tried their best to stay up, but the task was a difficult one.

Christa and Omid had gone to bed after about an hour, but Molly was still wide away. The woman was sitting by the fire, keeping watch.

As another hour went by Danielle drifted off and Clementine was just moments away from joining her in dream land when she heard Molly speak. "Omid, wake up."

Omid let out a groan, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I gotta use the bathroom, I need you to keep an eye out while I'm gone." Molly said.

"Alright…" Omid replied.

After a moment Clementine heard Molly walk away.

Omid was barely awake and seemed to have fallen back to sleep.

Perfect. This was their chance.

Clementine nudged her friend, "Dani. Get up."

After a couple nudges, the younger girl mumbled in a groggy voice, "Huh?"

"Come on." Clementine said to her.

Danielle stood up and watched as Clementine looked through a bag that was beside Christa. Finding a flashlight, the older girl tested to see if it worked. It did. Clementine handed the light to Danielle before picking up a nearby gun, she looked to Danielle.

"Let's go." Clementine said.

Danielle nodded.

* * *

Molly returned to the camp and rolled her eyes when she saw Omid had fallen back to sleep.

The woman was about to take a seat when she glances towards where Clementine and Danielle had been laying.

The last thing she expected was to see was the children not there.

"Shit!" She hissed. She checked around the camp but there was no sign of them. On the verge of panic, she rushed to wake Christa and Omid.

"Wake up!" Molly said.

"I'm awake!" Omid exclaimed. "Wasn't sleeping at all!"

"Shut up." Christa said to him. "What's wrong?"

"The girls are gone." Molly said.

Christa and Omid both looked surprised, eyes wide.

"What?" Christa asked.

* * *

Clementine fought back a yawn, she felt like she would faint any minute. "We should go back." She had no idea how long they had been walking, but her feet hurt and she just wanted to stop.

"What? No way." Danielle shook her head, tugging her friend's hand a bit. "We've already come this far..."

"I know... But it's really dark and you have to admit you're a little scared." Clementine said.

"Am not." Danielle claimed. Just as she did that, an acorn fell from a nearby tree causing her to jump.

"Come on. Let's go back. We're going to get in trouble." Clementine urged.

"We're going to be in trouble anyway." Danielle replied.

Clementine knew she was right, but that didn't matter. "We never should have left... It was a bad idea. It's dangerous out here."

"We'll be okay." Danielle said.

They pressed on, foot after foot. They tried to resist the temptation to sleep, to fight exhaustion, and not think about how scared they were actually feeling.

The children came to a fork in the path, after trying to pick which way to go, they decided to go right and soon came to a clearing. They were both surprised to find an abandoned, dented car.

"We did it!" Danielle cheered. "We found one."

"Yeah, we did." Clementine smiled.

The child went forward to examine the car, the windshield was slightly cracked, and there was an obvious dent on the side, but it wasn't in terrible condition.

Danielle walked around to the other side of the car and let out a scream at what she saw. Clementine rushed over to make sure her friend was okay. When she noticed, there was a body on the ground.

Clementine looked at the person and noticed a bite on their shoulder, bullet wound in their head. Clementine had assumed that he got bit while trying to get into the car.

Clementine cringed at the thought.

The two continued to look around the area before Clementine made her way to the driver's door of the car. The window was open, but only just enough for someone to reach a hand in, and unfortunately both girls were too short to do so. Clementine reached out a hand to open the door, but the second she yanked the handle the alarm went off.

* * *

"Why the fuck did they leave?" Christa sounded irritated.

Omid knew that she was only upset because she was worried. He felt guilty, if he hadn't fallen asleep the girls would've never wandered off.

"Why doesn't matter?" Molly said. "We just need to find them."

"Right." Omid said.

"We need to hurry." Christa said. "What if they're hurt or worse? What if-"

"Christa calm down. I'm sure their fine." Molly said. "They're smart kids."

"How am I supposed to calm down?" Christa said. "They barely know how to take care of themselves."

"Like I said, they're smart kids. They'll figure it out." Molly said. "You have to calm down... You can't get worked up... You're pregnant."

Christa sighed. "Okay... You're right."

"It'll be okay..." Omid said, trying to keep her calm.

"I hope so." Christa replied.

* * *

The girls flinched at the loud blaring of the car alarm.

A snap in the forest on the other side of the clearing grabbed their attention. Clementine held the gun in her hands tightly.

They watched as walkers started making their ways through the tree.

"What do we do?" Danielle asked, panicking.

"Calm down... Get in the car." Clementine ordered.

Danielle furrowed her brows, "What?"

"Get in the car!" Clementine repeated. It was the only thing she could think of to do.

Danielle nodded and quickly climbed into the car.

Clementine waited for her friend to get inside before climb in as well. She slammed the door shut and moved to the driver's seat.

Danielle watch in fear as the walkers approached the car.

Clementine quickly hit the lock button.

The walkers banged on the windows and Danielle started screaming.

* * *

Christa, Omid, and Molly continued through the woods, trying to find the children.

"Hey guys," Molly called, shining a flashlight on the ground. "Over here."

There were small footprints on the ground. The three followed them on the trail

The further they went the more worried they became. The girls had wandered pretty far.

Suddenly, they heard a loud noise of an alarm.

* * *

Danielle was in tears. Clementine tried her best to remain calm, trying to figure a way out of this situation.

"Dani, you have to be quiet. The door's locked. They can't get in…" Clementine said.

The walkers were still banging against the car.

The girls jumped in fear as one of the undead creatures stuck its arm through the window.

"Roll the window up." Danielle said. "P-Please!"

"I don't have the keys…" Clementine said back. The door had been unlocked.

Clementine started to frantically look for the keys, well aware that her friend was having a panic attack in the back seat of the car.

Eventually, the nine-year-old found the keys under the floor mat. She picked up the key and shoved it into the ignition. She turned the car on and quickly rolled up the window.

The car was surrounded at this point.

"What do we do? I don't want to die!" Danielle whimpered fearfully.

"We're not going to die." Clementine said. "Just calm down. We're going to get out of here."

"How?" Danielle asked.

"I don't know… I'll think of something." Clementine replied. She just hoped she could think of something fast.

* * *

Walking smoothly towards the direction of the sound. The trio came to a folk in the path.

For a moment they stopped but they could hear the alarm again, closer than before. They rushed towards the sound. Molly kept the flashlight aimed in front of them, illuminating the way.

When they arrived at the clearing they were taken aback by what they saw.

Their eyes widened when they noticed the large group of walkers surrounding a car.

"Holy shit…" Omid muttered.

"They're in that car." Molly said.

"Are you sure?" Christa said.

"They have to be." Molly nodded. "We're going to have to get rid of all of these geeks."

"Alright." Omid said. "Let's do it."

They jumped in surprise when they heard a gunshot. Now they knew for a fact, someone was definitely in that car.

They just need to get to them.

* * *

Clementine made her way to the back seat, sitting beside her friend. Danielle had her eyes clenched shut and her hands over her ears as she rocked back and forth, whimpering to herself.

Clementine looked to the gun she was holding, counting the bullets she frowned, there was nowhere near enough to take out the walkers.

Clementine looked up as she heard a noise. Her eyes fell on the window beside her friend.

The walkers had managed to crack it. Danielle didn't seem to notice as she kept her eyes shut, still rocking back and forth.

The walkers continued to push against the glass causing it to crack more. Danielle finally opened her eyes and looked, paralyzing fear coursed throughout her body.

"Dani, move!" Clementine ordered.

Before she could say anything else the window broke, sending chunks of glass into the car.

Danielle instinctively lifted her arms as a futile attempt to protect herself, as the glass battered them.

Slowly, she lowered her arms and gasped when she noticed Clementine had moved in front of her.

"C-Clem?" Danielle stammered, looking to her friend with worry.

"I'm okay..." Clementine mumbled.

The walkers were much clearer through the now broken window.

Danielle looked down and noticed blood on the car seat. It had to be Clementine's. "You're bleeding."

"I'm fine, Dani…As long as you're okay." Clementine said through a pained grimace. "We have to get out of here."

"That's impossible… There's too many monsters." Danielle said.

Clementine frowned. "There has to be a way. We have to-"

"Watch out!" Danielle exclaimed.

Too late. All too fast, a walker grabbed hold of Clementine's arm.

Danielle quickly realized Clementine had dropped the gun, when she moved to save her.

Her friend was in a fight for her life. Danielle had to conquer her fear or they'd both be killed. She knew that for a fact.

Turning her fear into adrenaline, she reached for the gun, moving quickly as she grabbed it. Danielle aimed at the walker that was attack her friend and without hesitation, pulled the trigger.

After a moment, she lowered the gun, her whole body was trembling. That was her first time killing… Even if it was a monster, she thought she would never have to do it.

Clementine moved away from the window and the girls backed up to the other side of the car.

"It's okay, Dani. You saved my life." Clementine said.

Danielle tried to compose herself.

Clementine took the gun from her trembling friend, "Thank you."

Danielle couldn't force herself to respond. She closed her eyes as Clementine started shooting any walker that dared reach into the car.

Clementine didn't have many bullets left. She didn't know what to do when she ran out…

* * *

"There's so many of them." Christa said.

Molly shook her head, yanking Hilda from a walker's head. "They're going to run out of ammo. I'm going try to get to the car. Cover me."

"Are you sure?" Omid asked.

"I said cover me." Molly repeated.

Omid just nodded.

Molly started to make her way towards the car.

Omid and Christa made sure to shoot at the walkers that got too close to the woman.

Fortunately, most of the undead were distracted by the sound of the alarm. Molly managed to sneak up on quite a few of the creature and take them out without being noticed.

The gunshots from the car had stopped, which meant they must have run out of bullets.

Molly had to be fast. She took out geek after geek and eventually there were no walkers left. She grabbed the car door but it was locked.

"STAY BACK!" Clementine cried, aiming the empty gun at her.

"It's okay… It's okay girls. It's just me, Molly." Molly said in a calm voice.

"Molly!" The girls called.

"Unlock the door." Molly told them.

Clementine moved pulled the lock up and Molly opened the door.

The two children got out of the car, practically throwing themselves into the woman's arm.

After a few moments Christa and Omid came over.

"Are you girls okay?" Omid asked.

The girls didn't respond.

"I think they're just a bit shaken up." Molly replied.

"More than a bit." Christa said.

Omid agreed with that. He opened the driver's door of the car and checked the gas meter. The car was close to empty. It wouldn't be able to get them anywhere.

Walking back over to the group, he looked to the girls and noticed the blood on Clementine's arm. "What happened? Did you get bit?"

"N-No… The window broke…" Clementine answered.

Molly frowned and looked at the child's arm. "We'll take care of this before it gets infected."

"Okay…" Clementine said.

"We gotta move before more of those things show up." Christa huffed. She looked angry and annoyed, it scared the two children.

Without another word the group left the area.

* * *

Once they got to a safer location Christa checked the children for wounds. Clementine's arm was bleeding, but neither child was severely injured. Christa treated the young girls wound then lectured them on how "stupid" they had been going out there alone, she was basically yelling at the little girls, and using some rude words that made both Omid and Molly feel uncomfortable.

Christa had used the word "stupid" over and over again. Molly knew those little girls were far from stupid.

Molly and Omid couldn't help but feel like Christa was overdoing it especially when she ended up make both children cry.

Molly started to comfort them only for Christa to get even more upset. Not wanting to fight, Molly ordered for the girls to go to bed.

The girls did so without protest. It was late and they were completely exhausted already.

Omid offered to keep watch for the rest of the night, still feeling guilty about letting the children wander off.

Molly agreed, but before she went to bed she decided she need a word with Christa.

"You don't think you were a little harsh?" Molly asked. Maybe she was being hypocritical. She herself was harsh with the kids when she first started taking care of them. She had definitely developed a soft spot for them.

"Harsh? The whole world is harsh. They better get used to it." Christa said.

"But Christa... They're just scared kids." Molly replied.

"We can't baby them forever. If we don't make them toughen up now they'll end up dead! What happened today is proof enough!" Christa said. "It's time for them to grow up."

Molly closed her eyes and rubbed them. "They've been hurt really bad, Christa... Yelling at them isn't going to help."

"Well being nice isn't either. They don't know how to protect themselves. We need to teach them before it's too late." Christa said.

"They did a pretty good job taking care of themselves, given the situation." Molly said.

"They would've been dead if we showed up any later than we had." Christa argued. "Besides, they wouldn't have been in that situation if they didn't wander off in the first place."

"They know they shouldn't have gone out there. They were terrified." Molly said. "You didn't have to make them cry."

"They need to be held accountable for their actions." Christa simply said.

"Yelling at them the way you did, after they were already scared didn't help at all." Molly replied.

Christa shot Molly a look. "I stand behind my words. It's time for them to grow up."

Molly sighed. The conversation was going nowhere. It was a lost cause.

"I guess that's it then." Christa huffed before going to lay down.

Molly didn't respond.

It had been a long night, and it wasn't even over yet. Molly just hoped tomorrow would be better.


	15. Chapter 15

**_Thanks to gaara king of the sand for the help._**

* * *

"I hope you two start to wise up. You do realize you could've die." Christa was lecturing them again.

Clementine already felt bad, she just wished Christa would forgive them for their stupid mistake.

"I just want to find my mom..." Danielle said in a whimper. "You guys acted like... like you didn't care..."

"Of course we do, Dani." Omid said.

"Then why haven't we gone looking for her yet?" Danielle asked.

"Things aren't that easy, Danielle." Molly sighed.

"Haven't you thought of the possibility that your mom didn't make it?" Christa asked bitterly.

Danielle's eyes widened. She quickly shook her head. "No... She's fine! I know she's fine... We just need to find her."

"We will, Dani." Omid said.

"Really?" Danielle asked.

"Omid, don't lie to her." Christa said firmly.

"I'm not." Omid said. "Look, the girls made a pretty good find. We can see if that car is in drivable condition.

"That car alarm was blaring!" Christa said.

"The battery probably died by now." Omid said.

"Even if it did, there's probably walkers all in the area." Christa replied.

"We can handle it. Molly and I can go check it out." Omid said.

Clementine and Danielle quickly exchanged glances upon hearing that.

"No way. There's no guarantee that the car works." Christa said, shaking her head in response.

"There's nothing wrong with checking. I mean if there's a chance, we might as well take it." Molly said.

"There's also a risk." Christa said.

"Everything's a risk." Omid pointed out.

"Doesn't mean you should put yourselves in a dangerous situation." Christa said.

"We're gonna have to go eventually. We need supplies. A warm place to sleep... Don't forget you're gonna have a baby in a couple months." Molly said.

Christa huffed, "Fine."

"What should we do while you're gone?" Clementine asked.

"You'll stay with Christa." Molly told the child.

Clementine's eyes grew worried, "But-"

"No buts. You'll stay with Christa." Molly repeated.

Danielle shook her head. "I... I want to help..." Most importantly she didn't want to be alone with Christa.

"If you want to find your mom, you need to listen to me." Molly said. "That goes for both of you. Stay here and listen to Christa."

Clementine and Danielle both frowned, but neither of them protested.

Everyone was silent for a while.

"You know what Clem, your hair's getting long." Omid commented, changing to lighter subject.

Clementine looked shocked for a moment, she reached her hand up, running it over curly locks. "Can... Can someone cut it for me?"

"Why do you want it cut?" Molly asked.

"I promised Lee I would keep it short... S-So... So, it would be safe..." Clementine said. "Can you cut it for me, Molly?"

"Sure, kiddo." Molly said. "How about we do that later on?"

"Okay..." Clementine agreed.

"How about we get some breakfast?" Omid suggested, wanting to change the awkwardness in the room.

"Yeah. That's a good idea." Molly said. "We can head out after that."

Omid nodded. "Sounds good."

There was another short silence as Molly went through one of their bags. She pulled out some cans of beef stew, while Omid worked on starting a fire.

Christa let out a scoff, "Omid, what are you doing?"

"Starting a fire." Omid answered.

"Why?" Christa demanded.

Omid raised a brow at her. "To move things along faster. You know. I'm sure the girls are hungry."

"You shouldn't be doing that." Christa replied, rolling her eyes. "If they're hungry they should figure out how to feed themselves."

Omid frowned at that. "Christa... They're just little kids."

"Doesn't change anything. They need to learn to fend for themselves otherwise they'll end up dead." Christa said.

Molly let out a sigh. She could understand what Christa was getting at, but the woman had a harsh way of putting it. "They'll learn. Little by little."

"They should start learning now." Christa replied.

"We'll teach them. They know how to defend themselves. At least that's something." Molly said.

"Do they really? They got themselves trapped in a car." Christa said.

"W-We didn't have a choice. There were too many walkers." Clementine said with some hesitation. She wasn't used to speaking up to adults.

"You had a choice. You made the choice to wander off." Christa snapped. "You should know better than that, Clementine."

Clementine lowered her head, tears brimming in her eyes

"She only went because of me. She didn't want me to go alone." Danielle spoke up in her friend's defense. "It's...It's not her fault."

"It's not Dani either..." Clementine said. "She didn't force me to go..."

"It was equally stupid on both your parts." Christa said.

"You guys said if we found a vehicle we could go Georgia and find my mommy!" Danielle said. "But you weren't looking."

"Danielle-" Molly called.

Danielle interrupted her. "So that's what we did! Because even if you don't care, I do!"

"Dani, calm down." Molly said.

"No! I want to find her! I just need to know if she's okay... She's... She's the only family I have." Danielle said, voice cracking as she felt herself about to cry.

"We get it, Danielle. We're gonna go looking for her. Just calm down. You're gonna bring Geeks." Molly said.

"Okay..." Danielle mumbled.

Molly started to heat the beef stew in a pan while the girls sat in silence.

Molly didn't want to leave the girls with Christa, not with how she was acting, but she didn't have a choice. Even though Christa was being cold, the woman would protect the children. Once the food finished heating, Molly served the two children before she, Christa, and Omid helped themselves to the stew.

Molly couldn't imagine what Danielle was going through. She knew most people had lost loved ones one way or another but that didn't make things any easier, and it had to be especially hard on a child.

These kids had things hard, Molly was surprised they had been coping with everything that happened to them so well. The last thing they needed was more heartache and it seemed the world couldn't give enough of that to those poor little girls. If there was a chance that Danielle's mother could be alive, which Molly had her doubts about, she was willing to search. To at least get Danielle the closer she deserved, that she needed.

Clementine glanced to her younger friend who was picking at her food.

Clementine felt horrible for her friend. She knew exactly how Danielle felt, she needed to comfort the younger girl. "You alright?"

"Yeah..." Danielle said.

Clementine didn't miss the pain in her friend's eyes. "Are you sure... I know it's hard..."

"What if... What if she is dead?" Danielle asked after a moment.

Clementine hadn't expected her to ask that. "What?"

"What if my mommy is dead...?" Danielle asked, she curled her little hands into fist, shoulders trembling.

Clementine bit her lip, trying to figure out something to say.

Before she could say a word, Danielle let out a whimper. That small sound was enough to cut through Clementine's heart.

Her friend dissolved into tears and Clementine felt her heart break for the younger girl.

"Why did they take me away? Why?" Danielle cried. "I want my mommy!"

"I know, Dani. I know." Clementine's cheek rubbed the top of Danielle's head as she wrapped her arms around the eight-year-old, soothing her and letting her cry it all out.

The adults looked over, but made no move to comfort the girl. They didn't want to make it worse.

By the time she finished crying, she felt exhausted. Clementine shifted as her friend's sobs died to sniffles. "Are you okay?" She asked once Danielle had pulled away to wipe her eyes.

Danielle shrugged. "I'm tired now."

"You can take a nap. I'm here with you." Clementine said.

"Thank you..." Danielle said with a yawn.

"Of course, Dani. You're my best friend. I love you." Clementine told the younger girl.

"I love you too, Clem." Danielle rested her head in Clementine's lap. "Night..."

"Goodnight, Dani." Clementine said.

Danielle, having tired herself out crying, didn't take long to fall asleep.

"She didn't eat anything." Clementine said with a frown.

"We'll save it for her, Clem." Molly said.

"Okay…" Clementine said. "I...I know how she feels… It's not easy… Losing people..." She had felt the same way when she lost her parents. When she lost Lee.

"Of course it's not." Omid said. "It's never easy losing anyone."

"I don't want her to be sad…" Clementine said.

"We know. Nobody wants that." Molly said.

"Can I help you?" Clementine said.

Molly shook her head, "No, Clem. You stay here."

"But I can be helpful. You know I can." Clementine said. "We can be a team..."

"Take care of Dani." Molly said.

Clementine paused, glancing to her friend. "Okay."

"Good girl." Molly said.

Omid looked to Molly, "I guess I'm ready when you are."

Molly nodded.

No one bother to finish breakfast, seeing Danielle breakdown had been heartbreaking enough to take everyone's attention away from hunger.

"Let's get going. Earlier the better." Molly said.

"Sounds good." Omid said.

* * *

After packing up supplies, and checking in on the girls, Molly and Omid headed out.

They walked without haste along the wood path. Neither of them uttered a word until they arrived back at the area where the car was.

The alarm had stopped, which they had expected.

There were a couple of walkers in the area, they took a count of the creatures. Fortunately, the numbers had dwindled after last nights' attack

"Guess the noise drew them…" Omid said.

"Yeah. We can take Geeks out… Then we'll see if that car is worth it." Molly said.

Omid nodded. "I mean, it's a vehicle. It's not like we can just go buy one."

"True." Molly said. "But if the battery is dead, it's a problem."

"Yeah. You're right…" Omid said.

"Let's focus on the Geeks for now." Molly said.

"Alright." Omid said.

Taking out the walkers was a much easier task, especially considering there weren't too many to begin with.

Once they had handled all the undead, Omid checked the car. He climbed inside and turned the key. Nothing.

"Batteries dead..." Omid said to Molly.

The woman sighed, "Figures."

"What should we do now?" Omid asked.

"We can't stay out here forever. We're in the middle of the woods, car battery is dead, and the weather is getting cold. That's not good for the kids." Molly said.

"Right... Maybe we can find a jumper." Omid said. "Or another battery."

"Not likely… We'd have to travel a bit for that." Molly said.

"You're right." Omid said. "My question is, why is there a car here?" Omid wondered out loud.

"There must be a way out of the woods. Judging by the cars condition whoever owned it must have had a bit of an accident." Molly replied.

"Yeah..." Omid looked to the car for a moment. "We can start it if we get a rope..."

Molly raised a brow, "What?"

"A rope." Omid said.

"What's a rope gonna do?" Molly asked, crossing her arms.

"We wrap the around the tire, while the key's in the ignition and then we give it a pull." Omid explained.

"Where the hell did you hear that?" Molly asked.

"Hey, it works. Believe me." Omid claimed.

Molly rolled her eyes. "Fine. We'll give it a try."

Omid grinned at that. "Awesome." He said. "First we gotta find a rope."

"Right...We might as well search for some supplies while we're at it." Molly said.

Omid nodded.

* * *

"She's making the same mistake you did." Christa said to Clementine.

The nine-year old looked to her. "Mistake?"

"She's holding onto false hope that her mother is alive." Christa said.

Clementine frowned. "Maybe... Maybe she is..."

"Be realistic, Clementine..." Christa sighed.

"I am... We don't know if she's dead, so I can't say she is..." Clementine said. "I don't want to do that to Dani."

Christa sighed. "Fine... But it's a waste of time."

"It's harder not knowing what happened." Clementine told the woman. "Because you always wonder..."

"I guess that's true." Christa said. "Doesn't change that chance of finding her are a shot in the dark."

"We can't give up before we even try, right?" Clementine asked.

Christa didn't offer a response.

* * *

Molly and Omid walked away from the broken-down car, finding a dirt road.

The two exchanged looks.

"Stay on your guard." Molly said.

"Always." Omid said.

They walked briskly along the road which lead to a highway. Molly was the first one to spot a house a few hundred feet from the highway. Trees closed tightly around the clearing except for the road. It was definitely well hidden.

The two cautiously approached the house. When they reached the front door, Omid gave a knock on it. After several seconds he knocked again. There was still no answer.

Molly frowned listening to hear if anyone was inside.

Omid started to give another knock, but Molly raised a hand to stop him.

"Don't." Molly said.

"What?" Omid asked.

"Knocking isn't doing anything." Molly replied.

"Fair point." Omid said. "What now?"

Molly considered other options before saying, "Try to find another way in."

"You mean we're breaking in?" Omid asked.

"If you wanna call it that." Molly said.

"Awesome. I get to show off my criminal skills." Omid joked.

"Like you have any." Molly scoff.

"Hey, I'm the bad guy from everyone's movie." Omid said.

Molly smirked, "Nah, you'd be the guy who gets everyone killed."

"Touché." Omid said.

Molly walked around the side of the house to the back. Three steps led to a porch. She tried the back door, but it was locked. There was a nearby window, curtained were draw back and Molly could see into a kitchen. She gave a tap on the window, but there was no response. The window was cracked open slight. Molly slipped her hands into the cracks and was able to pry the window open further.

"Omid," She called. "Over here!"

Omid followed her called. "What's up?" He asked.

"I found a way inside." Molly answered, motioning to the window.

"Perfect." Omid commented.

"Let's just be careful. We don't know who might be in there." Molly said.

Omid nodded. "Careful is my middle name. Well it's not but... I'm just as great at being careful as I am I breaking into places."

Molly chuckled. "So, this should be difficult for you then."

"Yep...Wait, what?"

Molly just shook her head.

They looked back to the window and Omid cleared his throat, "Ladies first." He urged.

"Alright." Molly climbed her way into the window, waiting for Omid to do the same.

Omid followed her lead before saying, "That wasn't so hard."

"Shh." Molly shushed him.

Omid raised a brow, "What?"

Molly didn't respond for a moment. She looked around the kitchen. Dishes were piled in the sink. There was clothing over the chairs... It told her one thing. People were there. Recently. Maybe they were still there?

Her thoughts were confirmed when she heard heavy footstep on the floorboard followed by a voice, "Well well, what do we have here."

"Shit..." Omid said.

* * *

Clementine felt nervous Christa. She felt like no matter what she did she would make the woman angry and so, she did nothing. She was too scared that the woman would yell at her. From the moment Molly and Omid had left up until she felt Danielle finally stir, she hadn't moved an inch.

When Danielle woke up she made sure her friend ate, although the younger girl complained of the food being cold, they had no way to heat it as Christa didn't seem to want to be bother at the moment.

Not to mention, the two girls were a bit scared of Christa at the moment ever since the woman had gone off on them like she did. They didn't want to make her angry like that again.

After that the girls started coloring, while waiting for Molly and Omid to return.

* * *

Molly and Omid realized they were now surrounded by five men.

"We don't want any trouble." Omid said, raising his hands in a nonthreatening manner.

"Well, you folks have trouble." The first man said.

"Look, just let us go." Molly said.

The first man laughed. "Look at her. Trying to give us orders in our own house."

Omid frowned, eyes drifting towards the door.

"Oh no. You ain't going nowhere." Another man said, he grabbed Omid, putting him in a choke hold.

"How about we put a little show on for your boyfriend here?" The first man spoke.

"How about you go put a bullet in your head?" Molly retorted.

"Feisty..." The man replied. He stopped for a moment. "Take off your clothes."

"What the hell?" Omid demanded.

"Excuse me?" Molly asked.

"You heard me, bitch. Take them off." The man repeated, drawing a knife.

Molly shot him a glare. "Go fuck yourself."

"I'll fuck something alright." He stepped toward her and she backed away. He grabbed her roughly, using the knife to slice at her jacket. Feeling his hand come in contact with her still clothed chest, Molly gave him a kick to the groin. He fell to his knees.

Molly grabbed Hilda as another two men approached her. She quickly dodged him, stabbing him in the back. She stabbed the second man in the chest. The man she had kicked started to get up, but Molly moved faster, stabbing him in the head.

Meanwhile Omid elbowed the man holding him in the nose. He then shoved the man, who was clutching his bleeding nose, to the ground. He reached for his gun, shooting the second man before he could do anything.

"You piece of shit." The man spat.

"Omid, watch out!" Molly called.

Omid looked down, just as the man on the ground plunged a knife into his leg. "Fucking hell!"

The man started to stand but Molly rushed over, using Hilda to stab him. "You okay?"

"I will be... W-What about you?" Omid asked, hissing in pain.

"Don't worry about me." Molly said.

Omid frowned, "But... He tried to-"

"I said I'm fine." Molly looked to her torn jacket with a huff. "Asshole." Shedding off her jacket, she walked over towards the man who had cut her jacket. Wordlessly she pulls his hooded shirt off, she put it on her own body. "Call this a trade for ruining my favorite jacket." She grumbled to his corpse. "Smells like shit, but it will do."

"You sure you're okay?" Omid asked her, while clutching her leg.

"Yeah. But you're not." Molly said.

"I'll be fine. We should check for supplies. Maybe they have a rope." Omid said.

"Maybe. You sit tight. I'll take a look. Don't want to hurt yourself anymore." Molly said

Omid nodded. "Be careful."

"Got it." Molly replied.

* * *

"They should be back by now." Christa huffed. "It's getting late."

"D-Do you think they're okay?" Danielle asked.

"They shouldn't have left. This was a bad idea. For a fucking car that doesn't work." Christa said, not answering the child's question.

"But they're coming back, right?" Danielle asked worriedly.

"I don't know." Christa grumbled.

"Should we go looking for them?" Danielle asked.

Christa shook her head. "We can't. It'll be dark soon. We won't cover much ground."

"I'm sure they'll be fine. Molly's good at this stuff." Clementine said. "And Omid's strong too."

Danielle looked to her friend, "Do you think they're coming back?"

"I don't know, Dani... I sure hope so." Clementine said.

* * *

Molly searched the house top to bottom, in some places Omid would've never thought to look. By the time she finished she had a bag full of supplies and she had managed to find a rope.

"Great, now we need a car jack." Omid said.

"That's the one thing we don't have. And I'm not sure where to find one." Molly said.

"Yeah... Well, I guess we can make do without it." Omid said.

Molly helped Omid to his feet and the two left the house.

"Let's get back to the group." Molly said to him.

"No way." Omid argued. "We got the rope. We can start the car."

"You're injured."

"I'm fine, Molly. I've had worse." Omid said.

Molly rolled her eyes. "Alright fine."

She had her doubts that he could start the car with a rope, but it was worth a try for all this trouble.

She helped support Omid's weight as they headed back to the area where the car was.

Molly realized it was getting darker. Christa was going to give them hell when they got back.

"Christa please calm down..." Clementine pleaded.

"They're dead. They've gone and got themselves killed." Christa said.

"Don't say that." Clementine said.

"Are they dead, Clem?" Danielle asked. She didn't know what to believe.

"No... They're fine." Clementine assured her friend.

Christa shot the child a glare. "You don't know that."

"Molly's tough." Clementine said.

"Doesn't mean a thing." Christa replied.

Clementine frowned. She refused to believe that they weren't coming back. Danielle on the other hand couldn't help but worry that Christa's words were true.

"Alright. Let's see if we can get this baby going." Omid said with a smirk.

"Careful on your leg." Molly cautioned.

"Quit worrying, mom." Omid joked. He began to wrap the rope around the tire. "Put the car on start."

Molly turned the key in the ignition. "Are you sure this is gonna work?"

Trust me." Omid simply said.

"Have you done it before?" Molly asked.

"Of course. A bunch of times." Omid said.

Molly rolled her eyes. She shifted the car into second gear before getting out. She watched as Omid took hold of the rope and gave it a hard pull and much to her surprise the car started.

"Holy shit..." Molly muttered. She quickly got in the car and shut it off.

Omid smirked. "Looks like we got ourselves a car."

* * *

"Damn it... What the hell are we going to do now?" Christa said.

Danielle was whimpering as Christa angrily ranted, snapping at the two children every time they spoke to her.

"P-Please calm down... You're scaring Dani." Clementine was scared too, but she was more worried about her friend.

"Yeah Christa, calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down- Omid!" Christa's eyes widened and she immediately rushed over and hugged him.

"Molly!" Danielle exclaimed, getting up and rushing over to the woman when she spotted her.

"You're back!" Clementine beamed, racing over to hug Molly as well.

"Yeah. We are." Molly said, hugging the two children.

Clementine looked over to Omid, eyes falling on his leg. "You're hurt..." She said.

"Oh... It's just a scratch." Omid lied.

Christa raised a brow, "A scratch? Let me see!"

Omid let out a sigh, showing her the wound.

"What happened?!" Christa demanded.

"We got into a scrap with some assholes." Molly informed her.

"Why?" Danielle asked.

"Doesn't matter. They were just being assholes." Molly said.

"On the bright side we got some supplies."

"What about the car?" Danielle asked.

Omid smiled at the child. "Looks like we're heading to Georgia."

"No way. You got it working?" Christa asked in disbelief. "How'd you do it?"

"He used a rope." Molly said.

"A rope?" Christa asked.

"I was surprised too." Molly admit.

"So was I. And Christa always tells me not to believe everything I see on TV." Omid smirked.

Molly sent him a look, "I thought you had done it before."

"Did I say that?" Omid asked.

"Yes." Molly said.

"I meant to say I saw a guy do that before." Omid said.

It was Christa's turn to sigh. "Omid..."

"So we're going find my mommy?" Danielle asked.

"That's right, Dani. We'll head out tomorrow." Molly said.

"Thank you." Danielle said.

"Of course, kiddo." Molly said, ruffling the child's hair.

"For now, can we eat? I'm starving." Omid said.

Molly nodded. "Yeah... I get some food ready. You let Christa take care of your leg."

"Deal." Omid agreed.

* * *

Dinner was much more comfortable than breakfast had been.

Once dinner was over, Molly trimmed Clementine's hair, as the girl had asked her to do earlier.

"You look... different..." Danielle mentioned to her friend.

"Do I?" Clementine asked. "Does it look bad?"

"No. I just got used to seeing you with long hair." Danielle replied.

"What about you, Dani? How about I cut your hair too?" Molly said.

"My mommy wouldn't like that..." Danielle protested.

"But you'll be safe that way." Clementine said. "That's why Lee cut my hair. So no one can grab it."

"I like it long though... Do I have to cut it?" Danielle asked Molly.

"I guess not. But if you get grabbed, we're cutting it." Molly said.

"Alright..." Danielle said with a bit of a pout.

"Alright. Well, let's get you two to bed." Molly said.

The girls nodded.

Molly set up and area for them to lay down and the children fell asleep without a problem. Christa had gone to bed shortly after them, leaving Molly and Omid awake.

"Everything okay?" Omid asked, noticing how quiet the woman was being.

"Why do you ask?" Molly questioned.

"I mean with happened earlier..." Omid said.

"Nothing happened." Molly stated.

"You can be upset about it... It's alright." Omid said.

"I'm not upset about that... I'm just thinking." Molly told him.

"About?" Omid asked.

"The girls..." Molly said.

"What about them?" Omid questioned.

"I knew what those assholes wanted and it scared me... The difference is I know how to defend myself. Clem and Dani barely do... I can't imagine how scared they must have been going through that." Molly said sadly.

"They...They'll be alright." Omid said.

"Will they be?" Molly asked.

"We'll take care of them." Omid replied.

"We can't always do that. Maybe Christa is right... They need to know how to protect themselves with more than just a gun otherwise..." Molly trailed off.

"And they'll learn. We got to take things slow. They're still just little kids." Omid reminded.

"That's the problem. They can't be little kids out here..." Molly said.

"What are you saying?" Omid asked.

Molly paused for a moment, "Maybe...Maybe it's time for them to grow up."


	16. Chapter 16

**_Sorry for the long wait since my last update. I had been extremely busy with school, and was working on a full schedule. Fortunately, my schedule has opened up a bit for the time being, and hopefully I can get some more updates out more often._**

 ** _Anyway, please read and review. Thanks for all the support._**

 ** _Thanks to gaara king of the sand for the grammar check._**

* * *

"You're kidding, right?" Omid whined. "I got the car working…"

"You're injured. You need to rest your leg. You don't need to be driving." Christa said in a scolding tone.

"Christa, I'm fine…" Omid sighed.

"Let it go, Omid." Molly said.

Omid started to protest. "But-"

Molly shook her head. "No point in arguing."

Omid just kept quiet, he knew that was true. He wasn't going to win that argument.

They continued walking through the woods until they reached the area where the abandoned car was. Fortunately, there weren't any walkers around.

Omid started the car the same way he had done the day before. "Hold the applause. I know it was amazing."

Christa rolled her eyes. "I give it a four."

"What? That was at least a nine!" Omid joked. "See girls, this is why you should believe everything you see on T.V. It always works."

Molly groaned, "Please don't tell them that…"

"Why not?" Omid chuckled. "It's true."

Molly didn't offer an answer.

They all climbed into the car and before long the set off on the two-hour drive towards Macon.

* * *

The ride was quiet, other than light chatter from the two children in the backseat.

"So, Dani…" Molly called, "Any ideas where we'll find your mom?"

"No..." Danielle says, thinking. "Well... I might have some idea..."

"What is it?" Molly asked.

"Mommy worked at Save-lots store. We set up a camp in the woods not far from it... That's where we were before the bad people took me." Danielle said. "Maybe if we go there, we might be able to find her..."

"I doubt it." Christa said. "If she's alive, she'd be stupid to stay anywhere too long."

Danielle frowned at that.

"She's probably looking for you, right now." Clementine said to her friend.

"You think so?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah… I'm sure." Clementine said.

"Then I hope we find her soon." Danielle said.

"Do you remember where this Save-lots store was?" Molly asked.

"Umm... Not really..." Danielle said honestly.

"Well, that's not much help..." Molly sighed.

"I… I kind of know where it is… I remember it was close to the highway." Danielle said.

"What highway?" Molly asked the child.

Danielle paused for a moment. "Umm…"

"Okay, we're in Macon now… Are either of you two local to this area?" Molly questioned.

Clementine lowered her head, trying her best not to think about Lee or her other fallen group members.

"It's not in Macon. I lived in Fairburn." Danielle said.

"Fairburn?" Molly repeated.

Danielle gave a nod. "Yeah."

"And where is that?" Molly asked.

"I don't know how to get there from here." Danielle admitted with a frown.

"Alright then…" Molly said. "Hopefully we can find a map or something."

They continued to drive until, they arrived at a gas station with a convenience store attached. They stopped by one of the abandoned gas stations to siphon any remaining gas from the pumps. However, after a few moments of trying, Molly is disappointed to find there is none left.

With few options, Molly decides it would be a good idea to look for a map and at least get a general idea of where they are. She returns to the car to inform the others of her plan. "Alright... I'm going to take a look in the store."

"Alone?" Omid asked.

"Might as well. It'll be faster." Molly said.

"But it's safer if someone goes with you." Omid said. He undid his seatbelt.

"Don't even think about it." Christa said.

"Why not?" Omid complained.

"Omid, you're hurt." Christa reminded.

"Christa, come on..." Omid said.

Christa however shook her head. "I'll go with her."

"How's that fair? You want to play the "most capable" card, but you're pregnant." Omid stated.

"Christa's right." Molly cut in. "You should stay here. If anything happens, we'll have a better chance at getting away than you will with an injury.

"Fair point..." Omid sighed.

"You keep an eye on the girls." Christa said.

"But we can help..." Danielle said. "I want to help..."

"We don't know what might be in there." Molly said. "You girls need to stay here where it's safe."

Danielle started to protest, "But..."

"If you want to find your mom, you need to listen to me." Molly cut the child off.

Danielle lowered her head, but nodded.

"Good." Molly said, then turned to Christa. "Let's go."

The two women exited the car and made their way towards the store.

Keeping their weapons ready, they made their way inside the store.

Immediately, the two women were aware of the total silence in the building. The gas station had been completely looted.

"This place is a mess." Christa said.

"You can say that again." Molly agreed. "Regardless, we should take a look around. It may look like there's nothing yet, but people tend to pass by things more often than you think."

Christa nodded. "Alright…"

The two women looked around the gas station, finding nothing of value.

Molly decided to search behind the counter of the gas station and managed to find a map.

She placed the map on the counter, spreading it open. It was a state map.

"Find anything?" Christa called, looking towards the woman.

"Just what we're looking for actually." Molly replied. She lifted the map to show Christa.

Christa cocked a brow before sighing. "You really think Danielle's mother is out there?"

"I don't know..." Molly said honestly. "But I promised her we would look. And Danielle's not just going to let it go. This is her mother afterall."

Christa made her way over as Molly set the map down. The two women searched the map for their location.

"If we're going from Macon to Fairburn, that's another hour or so ride..." Molly said with a sigh. "We're going to need to find some gas."

"I'm sure we'll see a couple abandoned cars on the way. We can check those and see if they have any gas…" Christa said.

"Right…" Molly agreed. "Dani said the store is near the highway. I'm going to assume she's talking about Interstate 85..." She pointed to Interstate 85 on the map.

"Problem, is there might be more than one Save-Lots in the area." Christa said.

"True..." Molly said.

"You and I both know the chance of this woman being alive is small…" Christa suddenly said.

Molly shrugged, "What do we have to lose?"

"I just think it's ridiculous to search for someone who is dead." Christa replied.

"Those two girls have been through a lot of pain and disappointment…" Molly said. "Danielle needs this."

"It's might be her biggest disappointment yet…" Christa replied.

"She needs the closure at least." Molly replied. "It's important."

Christa gave a small smirk, "I see you've rubbed off on Clementine.

Molly raised a brow, "Why do you say that?"

"She said the same thing." Christa told her.

"Well, Clem's a smart kid." Molly said. She closed the map and moved from behind the counter. "Come on, let's get back to the car."

With a nod from Christa, the two walked outside and returned to the car.

Once in the vehicle, Molly spread the map out and soon they once again found where they were on the map. "Alright… You said it's near the highway?"

"Yes." Danielle nodded.

"There's a market place around interstate 85. Not too from here. And there might be a Save-lots around there." Molly said.

"Really?" Danielle asked eagerly.

"Yeah." Molly said. "Do you know the name of the street?"

Danielle pondered for a moment. "It was…. Shannon something…"

"Shannon Parkway?" Molly asked, looking at the map.

"Yes!" Danielle exclaimed.

"Okay…. That's in Union City… Which isn't far from Fairburn…" Molly said. "I guess we're heading there. It going to be a bit of a ride though."

"Not like we're doing anything else." Omid said. "I'm willing to drive if you want me to."

"I'm good. I'll let you know though." Molly said.

"Okay…" Omid sighed.

With that, Molly started driving again.

* * *

A while passed before Molly and Christa finally agreed to let Omid drive for a bit. They were now on the outskirts of Macon.

The children had fallen asleep. The car was quiet.

"We're going to need to stop for gas soon." Omid let the other two know.

"There's a motel not too far from here." Molly spoke up from the back seat. "If there are any cars around we might be able to siphon from them."

"It's worth a shot." Omid said.

He continued driving for a few miles before the motel came into view. He slowly pulled the car to a stop.

"I'm going to see if these cars have any gas…" Molly said, she nudged Clementine who was leaned against her. She needed the child to move so she could exit the vehicle.

Clementine stirred, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. "Where are we?"

"At some motel." Molly replied.

"Motel?" Clementine repeated, eyes wide. "Like a… Motor inn?"

"Yeah… Travelier Motel." Molly said. "You know it?"

Clementine went silent, taking a couple deep breaths.

The group sent concerned gazes to the girl.

"Are you okay?" Molly asked the young girl.

Clementine frowned and stammered out, "I… T-That's where I was with… with L-Lee…"

The adults' faces fell. The mood became glum at the mention of Lee.

"Maybe… Maybe we shouldn't stop here…" Omid said.

"We need to stop. There might be supplies or gas here…" Christa said.

"We left because bandits attacked us…" Clementine said. "I don't think there's much of anything left here…"

"We don't know that for sure. We have to check." Molly said.

Clementine frowned and looked to Molly, "Please don't go… I don't want you to…" The child whimpered out.

"Clem, it'll be fine." Molly reassured. "I promise, I'll be back as quick as I can."

Clementine whimpered a bit more but nodded.

Molly opened the door and exited the car.

She checked some of the cars, sighing when she saw something hanging from the tank of the first car: a siphon hose with a bulb pump.

Someone had already been there.

Regardless, Molly checked the rest of the cars.

She managed to siphon half a can of gas and returned to the car.

She started to fill up the cars gas tank.

She could see Clementine through the window, the child had her hands over her ears and was rocking back and forth.

Molly felt bad, she had never seen the poor girl in that state.

After Molly finished filling the tank she put the gas can into the truck on the car before getting back inside.

Molly frowned as she looked to little Clementine. "Clem?" She reached out a hand to touch the girl.

Clementine flinched, "No!"

Molly was a bit surprised by the child's reaction and pulled away. "Clem… It's just me. Calm down."

Clementine didn't response, she just continued to whimper.

"She's been like that since you got out the car." Omid said.

Molly didn't know what to do, Clementine wouldn't let her touch her. "Let's just get out of here…"

Omid nodded and started driving again.

* * *

Nearly a half an hour had passed on the road before Clementine had finally calmed down. And she had only calmed down because she had fallen back to sleep.

"She's finally quiet…" Christa sighed.

"You can't really blame her for her reaction. She's traumatized after everything…" Omid said.

"That's no excuse to act like a baby." Christa said.

"That's kind of insensitive…" Omid frowned.

"I told you already. They need to grow up." Christa replied.

"They're only eight and nine…" Molly said. "They've been through a lot. Just let them be kids."

"Being kids will get them killed." Christa said.

Molly sighed. She didn't want to argue.

"Are we the yet?" Came Danielle's little voice. She still sounded tired.

"Pretty close actually, kiddo." Omid answered.

"Really?" Danielle moved to straighten up, but stop when she noticed her friend was laying her head against her shoulder.

"Yep." Omid said.

Danielle smiled. "I can't wait to see mommy again."

Molly wanted to tell the kid not to get her hopes up, but she wasn't going to break the child's heart. Not to mention she knew Danielle had her mind set on finding her mother, and Molly was sure there was nothing she could saw to dim the girl's hopes of finding her.

Omid read the street signs, "Union City! We're here."

"Alright." Molly checked the map. "Shannon Parkway isn't too far…"

"Alright, just tell me where to go." Omid said.

Molly gave a nod.

Omid continued to drive as Molly told him which way to go. Five minutes later that arrived at the Save-Lots store.

The stores windows had been busted, cans littered the parking lot.

Danielle's eyes widened at the condition of the store. "What happened?"

"People must have looted it." Molly said.

Danielle frowned, "They stole stuff?"

"Sometimes you have to if you want to survive." Molly replied. "I'm going to check the store…"

"I want to go too!" Danielle said, sitting up.

Her movement caused Clementine to stir. "What's going on?"

"We're at Save-Lots! This is where my mommy worked!" Danielle said.

"Really?" Clementine sat up, and looked out the window. She frowned as she looked to the store. "It looks like someone broke inside."

"They probably did. People have to get supplies one way or another." Christa said.

"Can I go in with you?" Danielle asked Molly, "Please?"

"Not happening, Dani." Molly replied.

Danielle's frowned, "Why can't I?"

"It might be dangerous in there." Molly said.

"I know how to protect myself. You taught me how." Danielle said.

"That doesn't matter. I'm not risking it… You stay here." Molly said firmly.

"But… But what if my mommy is in there?" Danielle questioned.

"If she is… I'll bring her out with me." Molly said.

Danielle shook her head. "You don't know what she looks like though…"

"I know… But I doubt anyone is in there… Anyone alive anyway…" Molly replied.

Danielle furrowed her brow, "My mommy's not dead."

"I'm not saying she is." Molly said. "You must get your smarts from somewhere, so I'm going to assume your mom wouldn't stay here."

"Okay…" Danielle said. "So why are we here then?

"Because there might be supplies in here." Molly said. "So, I'm going to check it out."

"I'm coming too." Omid said.

Christa frowned at that. "Omid-"

Omid cut her off. "I just drove for an hour. I can handle it."

"Alright…" Molly nodded. "We'll be fast, in and out."

Omid gave a nod.

"Be lucky…" Clementine called.

"We will kiddo…" Molly smiled at the child. "You two listen to Christa."

The girls nodded.

* * *

Molly and Omid exited the car and the two started towards the store's front entrance.

They stepped through the broken glass doors and Molly was glad she didn't bring Danielle inside. Bodies lay rotting, the smell was horrible.

As they walked further into the store, they realized the entire place was a wreak. In some areas, they couldn't even pass through because of all the stuff littered into the aisles. Shelves were empty, some broken.

To Molly, it looked like a tornado had been through the place.

"Hey, look what I found." Omid spoke suddenly.

Molly raised a brow and looked him.

He was holding a perfectly intact chocolate bar, still in the wrapper.

"Holy shit. That's a miracle find." Molly commented. She was sure the store had been cleaned out dozens of times. People probably came in small groups, took canned goods and whatever else they deemed useful, then left.

"You can say that again." Omid said. "The girls can split it."

"Yeah, they'll like that." Molly said.

The two continued walking around the store, searching for anything else. Molly managed to find a couple water bottles and cans.

"Good find." Omid said.

"People tend to overlook things more often than you think."

"I'm sure… When you're so focused on surviving it's easy to overlook little things." Omid said.

Molly nodded.

"So… Do you think Danielle's mom is alive?" Omid questioned.

Molly sighed. It was the same thing Christa had asked her earlier. "No…"

"What?" Omid was surprised to hear that. "Then why are we looking for her?"

"Danielle needs that closure. Whatever happens…If we find her, don't find her, if she's alive, or not… Danielle deserves to know what happened." Molly said.

"I guess that's true…" Omid said.

"Yeah…." Molly sighed. "Anyway, we should head back out-"

Before she could say another word, she felt a tight grip on her ankle.

"Shit!" Omid said, drawing his gun.

"Don't." Molly said.

"But-"

"Don't." Molly repeated, grabbing Hilda from her back, she brought the weapon down on the undead creature's head. "There's probably more geeks in here. The noise would've drawn them."

Omid gave a nod. He was surprise at how calm Molly remained.

"Like I was saying, we should head back. Clearly there's no one alive in here." Molly said.

"Danielle said they camped in the woods, we can check there." Omid suggested.

Molly nodded in agreement. "Yeah…"

The two of them made their way out of the store, remaining on their guard the whole time.

* * *

After Molly and Omid left the car, the three remaining passengers lapsed into an awkward silence. The two girls still felt anxious around Christa.

"How are you two doing?" Christa suddenly asked, feeling the tension in the air.

"Okay…" Clementine said.

"Yeah… We're okay." Danielle replied.

"That's good… You want to talk about anything?" Christa asked them.

"Like what?" Danielle asked.

"Any of the stuff that's happened, anything." Christa said.

The children were silent for a moment.

Clementine spoke after a while, "I got a question…"

"What's that?" Christa asked.

"Is the baby a boy or a girl?" Clementine asked.

"I'm not sure." Christa said. "We won't know until it's born."

"What do you want it to be?" Danielle asked.

"I don't really have a preference, boy or girl, I'll love it just the same." Christa said.

"At least Omid will be a good daddy…" Danielle said.

"What do you mean?" Christa inquired.

Danielle was quiet for a moment before saying, "I mean, he won't leave if the baby is a girl."

Christa wasn't expecting that. "Of course not."

"Yeah… He's around a lot of girls…" Clementine said.

"I don't think he minds." Christa said.

"Some people do…" Danielle mumbled.

"Well, those people are wrong. Anyone who abandons their child is wrong." Christa said.

They fell silent again, and soon noticed Molly and Omid coming back to the car.

"Did you find anyone?" Danielle asked immediately as Molly opened the door.

"No… Place is a disaster. Nothing but geeks inside." Molly said.

"Oh…" Danielle said.

"Yeah…. Anyway, you said you and your mom had set up a camp in the woods?" Molly asked.

"Yeah… But we didn't do it as soon as we got in the woods, we walked for a long time. And the group moved around a lot… Then it was just my mom and I until the bad people, who used to be mommy's friends took me away…" Danielle said.

"Well, I guess we'll be doing some walking…" Molly said. "No point in burning up gas we don't have."

Christa frowned at that. She really didn't like the idea of going into the woods to search for this woman, but she knew the group was already set on doing so.

* * *

"This is ridiculous. We've been driving around all day looking for a dead woman." Christa complained as they continued to walk.

"My mommy's not dead!" Danielle exclaimed. "Why do you keep saying that? Do you want her to be?"

Christa's eyes widened, "What? No Dani. Why would I?"

Danielle just whimpered.

"Alright. Listen," Molly knelt to the child's level. "I promised you we were going to look for your mom, so that's what we're going to do. But you need to calm down."

"I don't want to look for her... I want to find her!" Danielle replied.

"And we'll do our best to find her." Molly said.

"Okay..." Danielle said.

Christa groaned. "We should, at the very least, stop before it gets late."

"Christa might be right. Maybe we should stop for now. We can keep looking tomorrow." Omid said.

Danielle frowned, "But..."

"That's probably our best bet." Molly agreed.

"But what about looking for mommy?" Danielle asked.

"We'll keep looking tomorrow." Molly said.

Danielle pouted at that.

"Don't pout… Omid got you girls something anyway." Molly told the children.

"Really?" Clementine asked. "What is it?"

"I'll give it to you once we get in the car." Omid said.

Danielle still seemed disappointed, but she didn't protest as the made their way back to the car.

* * *

Days went by as they continued to look for the woman that the adults all presumed was dead.

They would drive for a while, find a spot to park and go check different areas of the woods, searching for any sign of Danielle's mother.

After days of continuous searching, Molly was ready to call a quits to this. If Danielle's mother was alive the chances of running into her didn't seem high.

Not to mention they were being led around by an eight-year-old. Young children usually did not have the best sense of direction, which was obvious considering it felt like they were going in circles. They had left Macon and drove to Union City, just to head back, and they were still coming up empty handed in their search.

Molly knew that with a full tank of gas they could drive up to four hours, but she also knew they didn't have that tank to spar, and there was no way they were going to stop every few hours to find gas just to travel in a circle.

"Alright…" Molly called. "Let's stop."

Danielle started to protest but Molly raised a hand to stop the child.

"We've been out all day… Let's get back to the car…" Molly said.

"Are we going to keep looking tomorrow?" Danielle asked.

Molly sighed. "I don't think so, Dani."

"W-What?" Danielle stammered.

"Dani, we've been looking for days, I don't think we're going to find her…" Molly said.

"That's because you don't want to find her!" Danielle said. "I'm not going back to the car! I want to find my mommy!"

"Dani…" Clementine called with a frown. "I know how you feel…"

"No, you don't!" Danielle snapped.

Clementine's eyes widened as her friend yelled at her and she flinched a bit.

"Dani, calm down." Molly said.

"You promise! You said we would find my mommy!" Danielle yelled.

"We've tried." Molly said. "Danielle, we can't keep this up. We need to get out of Georgia, completely."

Danielle crossed her armed, tears filled the child's eyes. "I'll look myself."

"Dani, stop…" Clementine said gently. "I want you to stay with me…"

"Then come with me." Danielle said. "We can look together."

"That's not a good idea, Dani…" Clementine said. "It's not safe out here…"

Danielle lowered her head, fighting back tears. She knew her friend was right.

"Look, maybe we should just stay here tonight…" Omid said. "Otherwise, we have quite a bit of walking to get back to the car."

"What if someone steals it?" Christa huffed.

"If they wanted to, they would've done it already. I got the keys anyway and I don't think they'll go through the trouble of trying to start it." Omid said.

"Omid's right. We might as well stop here and hit the road tomorrow." Molly said. "I'll scout the area and make sure it's safe to stay."

"Can we come?" Clementine asked, motioning to her and Danielle.

Molly looked to the girl. She was silent for a moment, but sighed, "Sure. Why not?"

"We can?" Clementine smiled.

"Yeah… Just make sure you stay close to me…" Molly said.

Clementine gave a nod. Danielle however, didn't respond, but she did follow as Clementine went to stand alongside Molly.

The three set out along a winding path. Molly made sure to keep the children close to her as they gingerly walked along.

The path creeps slightly uphill as they continued down it. They proceeded down the path until they reached a clearing. They stumbled upon a camp, which appeared to be abandoned.

Danielle's eyes took in everything they could. Instantly she recognized that the area was familiar.

The child's eyes bolted wide in surprise as she took in the familiar campsite. Her little heart rate spiked as she remembered being dragged away, screaming and crying from her mother.

The eight-year-old started to tremble.

Clementine looked to her friend with a concerned gaze. "Dani, are you okay?"

Danielle didn't respond, her gaze scanning the camp, from where she was she couldn't see much. She needed to get closer.

"Dani?" Molly called.

However, before she could say another word the child had rushed forward.

Molly swore, grabbing Clementine's hand she followed after the child.

"Mommy!" Danielle ran towards the camp, her chest heaving from how fast she was running. She felt frantic as she desperately called out, "Mommy, I'm here! Where are you?!"

As she neared, she still did not see her mother and panic struck her heart.

It didn't take Molly long to catch up with the child and seize the young girl by her shoulders.

"Danielle, you can't run off like that." Molly said.

Danielle was about to respond, but stopped as she caught sight of a figure on the ground.

The little girl paled and her eyes widened. "Mommy...?" She breathed.

Molly followed the girl's gaze to the woman on the ground. She frowned, releasing the child and allowing her to approach the woman.

"Dani-" Clementine called, Molly however reached out a hand to stop her.

"Mommy..." Danielle called again, taking slow, wavering steps towards the form on the ground. "Mommy, stay something." She called again.

There was no answer.

Danielle shook as she walked the last few feet to her mother.

The child dropped to her knees beside the woman, and gasped.

Her mother's eyes were open, but seeing nothing. The woman had a bullet wound in her head.

Her body also smelled... like those scary monsters that tried to eat them.

Danielle's eyes filled with tears and she started to shake the woman. "Mommy, wake up!" She didn't understand, why had someone shot her mother? Her mommy wasn't a monster…

Molly slowly approached the little girl. "Dani… It's okay…" She said to the child.

"It's not…" Danielle broke into sobs.

Clementine frowned, feeling her heart ache for her friend.

Molly knelt beside the child and pulled her into a hug.

Danielle wept in the woman's embrace. "Why did mommy have to die?"

"I'm so sorry, Dani..." Molly said. She had figured the child's mother was dead, but she hadn't thought they would actually find the woman.

Clementine made her way over to help confront Danielle.

Danielle sobbed uncontrollably for several moments.

Eventually the girl's sobs died down into whimpers and hiccups.

With shaking legs, the child stood up. Clementine quickly helped the young girl to her feet.

"T-Thanks..." Danielle muttered.

Clementine gave a small nod in response.

Molly let out a sigh, that camp looked scavenged, she was sure she wouldn't find anything useful. "Come on, let's get back to Christa and Omid..."

"W-Wait..." Danielle called out.

"What is it?" Molly asked.

"I want to get something." Danielle said. "From the tent…" The girl released Clementine's hand and slowly made her way to what was left of a tent she and her mother once shared.

Molly followed close behind the child, in case something, or someone was inside.

Danielle was shaking again as she opened the tent, eyes falling on her old sleeping bag. She noticed a photograph of her and her mother. She picked it up with shaking hands.

"C-Can I keep it?" Danielle stammered to Molly.

"Of course…" Molly replied. She carefully removed the photo from the frame before handing it back to the girl.

"Thank you…" Danielle sniffled.

"You're welcome, kid…" Molly said.

Danielle turned her attention to a stuffed rabbit toy. She grabbed the plush from the sleeping bag and held it against her. "O-Okay…" She looked to Molly. "I'm ready…"

Molly nodded, and the two walked away from the tent. Molly gently took the children's' hands. "Let's go…"

* * *

After the loss of her mother, Danielle plummeted into a deep depression. For several days, the child barely responded to anyone. She would sit silently for hours, clutching her stuff rabbit to her chest. Barely eating or drinking anything when offered. Everyone was concerned for the young girl. The child was broken.

The adults had decided it was in their best interest to get out of the Macon area, there were too many bad memories for the children there. So, that's what they did. Unfortunately, after they made it out of Macon the car had refused to start back up and after several useless attempts, they ended up having to leave the vehicle behind.

Now it was back to travelling on foot, which also meant no more sleeping in the car.

"Hey…" Clementine said in a gentle tone as she sat beside her friend. "Are you okay…"

Danielle didn't respond.

Clementine bit her lip, looking to the stuffed animal her friend was holding. "She's cute… What's her name?"

"Flopsie…" Danielle finally broke her silent streak.

"That's a cool name." Clementine said.

"Thanks…" Danielle mumbled.

And once again, silence fell over them.

* * *

Two months had passed and over that time Molly saw a noticeable change in both Clementine and Danielle.

As time went on Danielle had completely shut down emotionally. The child hadn't shed a tear since a week after losing her mother. She had simply closed herself off.

Molly worried about the girl's mental state. Keeping all that bottled up wasn't good, however Danielle wasn't willing to talk about the bad things.

Danielle wasn't the only one Molly noticed a change in. In just two months, Clementine's maturity had grown drastically.

Clementine tried her best to be there for her friend, but it was hard when Danielle was continuously giving her the cold shoulder.

The younger girl had become so distant that at times Clementine couldn't help but feel lonely.

Still Clementine didn't take it personal. The nine-year-old knew her friend was hurting and did what she could to look after the younger girl.

* * *

Weeks later, the adults couldn't help but feel concerned about Danielle. They knew everyone grieved differently, but there were times when the child was completely unwilling to interact with anyone, she was just barely there.

And then one morning, Molly found the child playing with Flopsie with a smile on her face. She hadn't seen the girl smile in months. When she approached the child the little girl simply declared she was no longer sad.

Molly tried to convince her that it was okay to be sad, however Danielle shook her head, saying she was happy now.

The child's smile said one thing, but her eyes said another. Molly could tell she was still struggling to cope with her recent loss, but she was putting on a mask to appear okay.

"Dani… I just want you to know that you can talk to me if you want to."

Danielle looked a bit surprised for a moment but said, "Okay…" She then went back to playing with her stuffed animal.

* * *

As the months moved on, Danielle continued to wear her emotional mask. Molly quickly figured the girl had a case of smiling depression.

However, Molly did note that the child was once again interacting with them, and she also quickly realized that Clementine had become more protective over the younger girl.

However, her worries soon shifted from Danielle to Christa as the woman's pregnancy progressed.

They needed to find somewhere to go and they needed to find that place fast. Molly and Omid both knew that Christa was getting close to delivering that baby and she could have the child any day now and they needed a safe place for her to have it. They were sure Christa would naturally make a lot of noise during the birth, which would draw walkers.

For the group members, each day was a repetition of the last. And the travel was getting no easier. They would walk for countless miles a day, making stops every so often to eat small rations of food, then continue walking just to camp out at night. If they were lucky they would find an abandoned building to rest in for a few days or a vehicle to at least catch some sleep in. However, the last few weeks had been anything but lucky, in fact it was just plain exhausting.

They had awoken early that morning and after a breakfast of stale cereal they start out walking.

They traveled for about an hour before catching sight of a rest stop.

"Think this place is safe?" Christa asked.

"Worth checking out." Molly replied. "Come on... Girls, stay close."

The children nodded.

The group carefully moved closer to the rest area, to get a better look.

"So I've been thinking about a few names..." Omid spoke.

"Really?" Christa asked.

"Yep!" Omid said.

"Like what?" Christa pressed.

"Well, I mostly thought of boy names." Omid said honestly.

"Let's hear them." Christa urged.

"Okay... Take your pick. We got Omid Junior, Omid the second, Little Omid..." Omid said. "I can probably think of a few more, but what do you think?"

"Omid, you can't be serious." Christa stood from behind cover and started towards the rest stop after seeing it was clear.

The others followed suit.

"I am." Omid said.

"We are NOT doing that." Christa groaned.

"Why not?" Omid asked.

"Because!" Christa said.

Omid chuckled. "Come on, Christa. What's wrong with "Omid"?"

"We're not calling out baby Omid. One of you is enough." Christa said. "Girls, a little help here."

"Omid the second." Omid said.

"No." Christa replied.

"Omid junior?" Omid asked.

"No!" Christa exclaimed, a bit of humor in her tone.

"You have to admit; it has a ring to it." Omid stated.

"Yeah, the ring of an egotistical maniac." Christa sighed.

"I think it sounds good." Omid said.

"Girls, a little help here?" Christa called looking to the children.

"What if it's a girl?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah… You can't name a daughter Omid." Danielle added.

"Then we name her Christa." Omid smirked.

"But I'm Christa. I don't want to call her Christa. That's just confusing." Christa said.

"So name her Genevieve. I don't care!" Omid said.

"How can you not care?" Christa asked.

They approached the restrooms of the rest stop.

Molly meanwhile, check one of the abandoned cars in front of the area. No keys.

She kept walking to catch up with the others.

"Omid, you're not taking this seriously." Christa sighed.

"I take everything seriously. Especially little Omid's future." Omid replied.

"Keep taking and you'll be sleeping in the rain tonight." Christa said. "Remember that time in Barstow?"

"Vegas weekend?" Omid asked with a knowing smirk.

"I'm going to look around." Molly announced. "There's a gas station pretty close by. You guys be good here?"

"Yeah. We'll be fine." Omid said.

"You be careful. We don't know what's out here." Christa told her.

"I'm always careful." Molly stated before looking to Clementine and Danielle, "Girls, listen to Christa and Omid."

With that, Molly walked away to check the gas station.

"Why don't you two get cleaned up in the girls' room." Omid suggested.

"I hope the sink works in there." Clementine said.

"I wouldn't count on it. Just be careful, and make sure to keep track of your things." Omid said. "We'll be out here if you need us."

"Okay…" Clementine said.

* * *

Clementine and Danielle entered the bathroom with caution. Both knowing anything, or anyone could be inside.

"Hello?" Clementine called out.

There was no response.

"It's dark..." Danielle muttered.

"Yeah... We have to make sure it's safe in here." Clementine said, drawing her gun.

Danielle nodded.

Sticking close to each other, the two girls checked the stalls. The bathroom was clear.

"Good... No one's here." Clementine sighed in relief. "Guess it's safe to get cleaned up."

Clementine took her friend's free hand and led her over to the sink.

Releasing Danielle's hand, she placed her gun down. Clementine then slung her bag off her shoulder and placed it onto the sink. Clementine unzipped her bag, pulling out a water bottle and a cloth. "I'll help you get cleaned up."

Danielle gave a tiny nod, holding Flospie tightly against her. "Maybe the sink works..."

Clementine shrugged and tried the faucet. Nothing... "Figures..."

"Oh well…" Danielle said.

Clementine opened the cap of her water bottle, wetting the cloth slightly. "How are you feeling, Dani?"

"Okay, I guess..." Danielle mumbled. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. Don't worry about me." Clementine started to gently use the cloth to wipe Danielle's face. "All done." She said once she finished.

Danielle gave a tiny smile. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Clementine said. "Do you have to use the toilet or anything..."

"No... I'm okay right now. But it's gross in here." Danielle said.

"Yeah... It is." Clementine said, while putting some more water on the cloth. She used it to clean her own face before examining herself in the mirror. "Better."

"Can we get out of here now?" Danielle asked. "It's spooky..."

"Yeah..." Clementine said. She glanced to her friend for a moment.

"What?" Danielle asked, pulling up a brow.

"Your hair is too long. We need to cut it." Clementine said.

Danielle quickly shook her head. "No."

"But it's not safe." Clementine argued.

"I don't care!" Danielle said. "I don't want it cut!"

"Dani-"

"I said no. Mommy liked it long." Danielle said. "Can we please get out of here?"

"Okay..." Clementine said. She started to pack the stuff into her backpack. In her rush, she accidentally knocked her water bottle down. "Shoot..."

"What happened?"

"I dropped the bottle." Clementine said. "Stay here. I'll go get it."

"Okay. Hurry, please." Danielle said.

Clementine nodded and headed toward the stall the bottle rolled into. She picked up the water bottle and wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Ew…"

The two children both jumped in surprise when they heard the restroom door open. Danielle's eyes darted towards the gun Clementine had placed on the counter. She quickly picked it up and aimed it towards the person who had entered the bathroom.

"W-Whoa. Kid, what the hell?"

"Don't move!" Danielle said, voice shaking as she spoke.

"Dani, what are you doing?" Clementine rushed towards her friend.

Danielle didn't response. She kept the weapon trained on the teen who had entered the bathroom.

"W-Wait... I don't want any trouble." The teen said, raising her hands in a non-threatening gesture.

"Who are you?" Clementine asked.

"M-My name's Michelle." The teen seemed surprised that she was being held at gun point by two kids who looked about seven and eight years old... And it was probably even more shocking that the one aiming the gun was also clutching a stuff animal.

"Are you alone?" Clementine questioned.

"Yeah... It's just me." The girl replied.

"I don't believe you." Danielle said with a cold glare.

"I swear..." Michelle responded.

Clementine sighed, "Dani, stop. Give me the gun."

"What if she's a bad person, Clem?" Danielle said. "What if she's not alone? She might be with a group, and they might hurt us."

Clementine swallowed at the thought. "Danielle, just give me the gun."

"And what if I don't?" Danielle asked.

Clementine paused, "Then I'll take it from you..."

"Look, I promise, I'm by myself... I have been for a while. I met your two friends outside." Michelle said.

"Christa and Omid?" Danielle asked.

Michelle gave a quick nod. "Yeah, them... I talked to them... They uh... told me to come get you two."

"They told us to get cleaned up in here..." Danielle said.

"Yeah... Yeah, I know... But you're done, right?" Michelle asked.

"Yeah. We're done..." Clementine answered.

"So come on... They're waiting outside..." Michelle motioned for the children to come over.

The two children exchanged looks. They felt a bit skeptical, but Christa and Omid did say they would be right outside. Clementine grabbed her bag from the counter. Slowly the two made their way towards the exit of the bathroom. Danielle lowered the gun, seeing that Michelle had no weapon of her own.

Before the children could react, Michelle pulled the gun from Danielle's little hand and aimed it at the two girls. "Outside, now."

The children gasped, shaking a bit.

"Now." Michelle ordered again, opening the door.

Without protest, the children stepped outside.

Their eyes widened as they caught sight of Christa and Omid. However, the two were alone, they were surrounded by three other people, all holding guns.

Clementine sent the Michelle a look. "You said you were alone."

"You shouldn't believe everything you hear." The teen responded. "I got 'em. Just two little kids."

One of the men nodded. "Good work, Michelle. Now all y'all fucking listen up, and this will all be easy for you..."

"C-Clem..." Danielle whimpered, clutching to her friend's hand.

"It's okay, Dani..." Clementine tried to reassure her friend, despite the tears that threatened to fall from her own eyes.

Christa placed a protective hand over her stomach, eyes widening as she noticed the girls. "What do you want from us?"

"We want everything you have." A second man spoke.

"We don't have much." Omid said.

"Well give us whatever you do have." A woman ordered. "Otherwise, we have no choice but to shoot you all."

The bandits kept their weapons trained on Christa and Omid. While Michelle kept the gun on Clementine and Danielle.

"Please… you don't have to do this…." Omid said.

"Shut the hell up. Now I won't say this again, give us your stuff or we start killing you folks off." The first man said.

"We have kids, think about what you're doing…"

The man's response was to fire a gunshot.

* * *

As Molly approached the gas station she noticed a few abandon vehicles scattered around it. There were a couple geeks, but Molly wasn't worried about that.

Making as little noise as possible, she approached the gas station.

As expected it was in rough condition, windows busted out, but she didn't see any people around.

Molly carefully made her way inside the gas station and searched around.

The gas station was basically empty. Molly figured it was cleaned out on some prior groups' raid.

Regardless, that concluded her search. She exited the facility with a sigh.

She figured she could check the vehicles around the lot to see if any of them were drivable, when she caught sight of a truck she hadn't notice before.

Cautiously, she approached the vehicle and found the door was locked. She peered through the windows and was surprised to see it was filled with supplies.

"What the hell?" She spoke out loud.

Suddenly the sound of a gunshot reached her ears.

Fighting the urge to panic, she rushed toward the direction of the shot, back in the restroom area.

She hid behind some bushes and caught sight of people holding her group members at gun point. That truck with the supplies must have been theirs.

She swore, how did she not notice them...?

It became apparent to her that they hadn't thought to check the station, they had probably passed it over because of its rough outer appearance, so they didn't know she was there either. That gave her an advantage.

* * *

Everyone flinched at the loud bang from the gun.

"That was your warning." The first man lowering his gun, which he was aiming at the sky. "Now all of y'all take those backpacks off and put 'em down nicely for me."

"You heard him! Go on." The woman ordered.

"W-Why are you doing this?" Clementine whimpered out, placing her backpack on the ground.

"Because we can." Michelle replied. "You going to cry, little fishies?"

Danielle broke into tears as Michelle taunted them.

"Not so tough now, huh?" Michelle pressed the gun to Danielle's head. "Put your bag on the ground."

"Leave her alone!" Clementine said. "She's already scared!"

"She should be." Michelle replied. The teen moved the gun away from the shaking eight-year-old's head.

Clementine took Danielle's bag and placed it on the ground. "Now… let us go…"

"Not happening." Michelle said.

The two men started digging through the bags while the females continued to keep guns on the captives.

"You folks really don't have much. How the hell did y'all make it so long?" The second man commented.

"Shut up and keep checking the bags." The first man said.

"I am. I am." The second man stood to check the children's bags, but suddenly a second gunshot was heard, and the man fell, lifeless to the ground.

The other bandits immediately looked around to see who fired the gunshot, but before they could do anything another shot followed.

The woman holding Christa and Omid at gun point fell to the ground, dead.

Omid quickly grabbed her weapon and used it to shoot the first man.

Michelle's eyes widened and she was now trembling.

"You gonna cry little fish?" Molly asked, stepping behind the teen, holding a gun to her head.

"I… I'm sorry…" Michelle said.

"Drop the gun." Molly ordered.

Michelle quickly did as she ordered.

Molly crouched down to pick up the weapon. She then looked to the two whimpering children. "You two okay?"

The girls said nothing, as Molly hugged the children.

Michelle took the opportunity to start running. She didn't make it far; she was hit in the chest with a bullet fired by Christa.

"Christa, what the hell?" Omid asked.

"She deserved it." Christa replied coldly.

"No she didn't... She was unarmed.

"Had she not been, she would've shot us. I did what I had to do!" Christa retorted.

"That was uncalled for…" Molly said, approaching Christa and Omid, with Clementine and Danielle close behind her.

"I am so sick of you two siding against me all the time!" Christa snapped.

Molly sighed. "We're not siding against you Christa."

Christa crossed her arms. "Whatever, let's just keep moving."

"Alright…" Molly agreed. "I found a truck. It's decent condition. I'm going to assume it belonged to these assholes…"

"That's perfect." Omid said.

"Better than nothing, anyway." Christa said.

Molly nodded. She searched the bodies for the keys, finding them on the first man, who was most likely the leader. Her attention was grabbed as Christa suddenly let out a gasp.

"You okay?" Omid asked.

Molly looked to the woman and a swear fell from her lips as she realized what had happened. "Oh shit…"

"What?" Omid questioned.

"My water just broke." Was Christa's response.


	17. Chapter 17

**_Thanks to gaara king of the sand for the help._**

* * *

Time froze for a moment. Omid held his breath as they looked to the puddle of water on the ground.

"W-What did you say?" Omid asked. His eyes were wide as saucers, brows high and mouth practically hanging open.

"My water broke." Christa repeated.

Omid was quiet for a moment before gasping, "Shit! Oh shit! What do we do?"

"Right now, we need to get to the truck." Molly said, before looking to Christa. "Are you okay? Can you walk?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm fine right now..." Christa said. "Lead the way."

Molly gave a nod. She leads them towards the truck, glancing back to check on Christa every so often.

Omid was in more of a panic than Christa was at this point. In fact, Christa was trying to keep her husband calm, instead of the other way around.

"Omid, relax." Molly called back.

"H-How can I?" Omid stammered.

"The same way I am." Christa scoffed. "You're not the one who's about to push a human being out your body."

"Y-Yeah... You're right..." Omid sighed. "Deep breaths, Omid. Deep breaths."

Molly rolled her eyes.

Eventually they arrived at the truck.

Molly ushered the girls into the backseat. Christa sat beside them.

Molly took the driver's seat, not trusting Omid to drive while he was still freaking out.

Omid sat in the passenger's seat, looking both excited and anxious.

Molly started driving, searching for a safe place for Christa to have this baby. She couldn't have the child in a truck, not with all those people in there.

Not to mention the noise would attract unwanted attention.

Molly sighed and kept driving. This baby had bad timing. They needed to find a safe place, and soon.

* * *

"How you doing back there?" Molly called to Christa.

"I'm fine." Christa said. She glanced to her swollen belly, rubbing a hand over it. As long as her baby was alright, she was fine.

"Are you having any contractions?" Molly asked, keeping her voice calm.

Christa gave a small nod. "For a while now."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Omid asked, sounding shocked.

"They aren't that strong yet. With all the Braxton Hicks, I didn't want to jump to conclusions." Christa said.

"Well, they're not Braxton Hicks." Molly said.

"I know that now!" Christa snapped.

"What's a contraction?" Clementine asked.

Christa sighed, and spoke in a calmer voice. "It's like a cramp. It means the baby is positioning itself to come out..."

"To come out of..." Clementine trailed off, eyes wide.

"Yeah." Christa answered.

"Won't that hurt...?" Danielle asked in a quiet voice.

"It'll be okay..." Molly said, not wanting Christa to get worked up from the girl's questions. "Now, let's play the quiet game."

The children took the hint and fell quiet.

They drove in silence for a while before Omid asked, "You sure you're okay?"

"Omid, for the last time I-" Christa stopped mid-sentence, her body suddenly tensed up as a pain shot through her. A contraction, she'd been getting them for a while, but this one was much stronger.

Christa gripped the seat in front of her, clenching her teeth as she waited for the pain to pass.

"Are you okay?! What's wrong?" Omid asked.

"O-Omid, shut up!" Christa gritted out. She kept telling herself to stay calm, but

Omid's constant fretting was making it hard to do so.

"I-I'm sorry..." Omid said.

The pain soon passed and Christa let out a sigh.

"Are you okay?" Omid asked for what seemed to be the hundredth time.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." Christa said.

"Just breath. You remember how to do that, right?" Omid asked stupidly.

Christa rolled her eyes at that. "Of course I do!"

"Okay. Good." Omid said.

"Omid, I think you should stop talking now." Molly sighed.

Omid started to protest. "But-"

"We're playing the quiet game, remember?" Molly said.

"Okay..." Omid sighed.

Silence fell again, until Christa spoke this time. "W-What are we going to do? I can't give birth in a truck!"

"Look, just calm down." Molly said. "We're going to figure something out."

"I can't calm down! I can't have my baby in here!" Christa said.

"I'm trying to find some place now. Just let us know if the contractions start getting too strong." Molly hoped she didn't give birth in the vehicle. She didn't want to jostle Christa or the baby.

"Alright... Alright." Christa breathed.

* * *

The drive continued in silence until little by little Christa's contracts grew stronger. Ultimately, they had gotten so painful that Molly had to pull over briefly to check on the other woman.

Her contractions were getting stronger and closer together with each few minutes that passed.

The two children flinched at the pain filled scream Christa released.

"Are you okay?" Clementine asked.

"NO! I'm NOT okay!" Christa snapped. "We have to keep going."

"Are you sure?" Molly asked.

"I'm not having my baby in a fucking truck! Find some place." Christa said.

Molly gave a nod and started the vehicle again.

They drove for nearly twenty minutes before finally discovering a church.

Zombies were around the perimeter of the building.

"I'm going to clear out some of these Geeks." Molly informed them. "And check this place out."

"Alone?" Omid asked.

"We need to make sure it's safe so Christa can have her baby. And you need to stay here in case anything happens." Molly said.

"Okay. Be careful." Omid said.

"I will." Molly got out of the truck and took out some of the zombies that were blocking the church's entrance with ease.

Once she had killed enough of them she rushed to the church door. Fortunately, it was unlocked. She entered the building finding the front area clear.

She did a quick check over the place, deciding it was safe to bring the others inside.

Molly head back outside, just as a loud scream came from the truck. She inwardly swore and immediately rushed towards the vehicle, killing any geeks that were too close to the truck. Several of the undead had been attracted by the noise of Christa screaming.

Upon noticing her, Omid jumped out the truck. "Is it safe?"

"Safe enough." Molly said, opening the back door to help Christa out. "Let's move. We gotta get inside."

Her pain was so strong that Christa could barely walk at this point. Molly and Omid took either side of her, helping her towards the church.

Clementine and Danielle followed close behind the two adults.

They entered into the building and Molly and Omid helped Christa to lay on one of the pews.

Clementine shut the church door, eyes wide as she noticed the walkers outside of the building.

Christa had her eyes clenched shut. She let out a loud scream of pain.

Omid looked helpless, his face went pale. "What do we do? I don't know what to do."

"Omid..." Molly called calmly.

"W-What are we going to do?" Omid was nervous, his voice panicky.

"First off, calm down." Molly said.

Omid frowned, "But-"

"Omid! Get a hold of yourself!" Molly snapped. "You're about to be a father. You need to pull yourself together for Christa and your baby's sake."

"I... Yeah, you're right." Omid gave a nod, but a look of anxiousness etched into his face.

"Come on, give me a hand. Let's get these pants off of her." Molly said.

The two of them helped Christa strip her lower half.

"D-Does it hurt a lot?" Danielle asked nervously once Christa's screams had died down.

"It does... b-but I'll be okay..." Christa panted out. "A-Are you girls e-excited to m-meet the baby?"

Neither child responded. They were too shaken by what was going on.

"Girls go sit down." Molly ordered to the children. "Stay away from the door."

The children nodded in response and went to sit down.

"Omid, try to find some towels, and clean water!" Molly said.

Omid gave a quick nod, rushing off to search for what they needed.

"Christa, just breath... You're doing good. You're going to be alright." Molly spoke calmly to the woman.

Christa nodded, focusing on breathing.

Molly sighed. She didn't know exactly when Christa was supposed to start pushing, but when the woman let out another yell she figured now was the time.

Omid rushed back into the area with a couple of towels and a bucket of water.

"Alright, make sure that door is locked." Molly said.

"On it." Omid replied, running towards the door.

Christa bit her lip. Molly allowed the woman to hold her hand to help cope with the pain.

Having shut the door Omid rushed back. "W-What now?"

Molly glanced to Omid who was biting his nails.

They could hear snarls and banging on the door outside.

Molly knew Omid wouldn't be much help if he was this nervous already, he'd probably just end up fainting halfway through the birth. "Omid, I need you to make sure no geeks get in here."

Omid hesitated for a moment.

"GO!" Molly ordered.

Omid rushed off to do as she told. He wouldn't take the chance of opening the door. Instead, he rushed to a window and aimed his weapon outside of it. He started firing shots at the undead creatures.

All he could think about was protecting his family. That was all that mattered.

Meanwhile, Molly decided it was time for Christa to have this baby. "You need to get ready to push..."

Christa's heart plummeted to the ground. She shook her head, "I'm... I'm not ready."

"You have to be... You have to push." Molly said. "You'll be alright. You can do this."

Christa took a deep breath, but nodded. "A-Alright... Give me a second..."

Molly looked to the two children who were looking terrified. Danielle had Flopsie clutched tightly to her chest while Clementine's eyes were glued to the door.

Molly glanced to Christa who was taking deep breaths, then back to Clementine before calling, "Clem! Come here."

The two children looked to Molly with curious expressions. Clementine got to her feet and made her way over to the woman.

"Y-Yes?" Clementine asked

"I need your help." Molly said.

Clementine furrowed her brows. "With what?"

"You're going to help deliver this baby." Molly said.

Clementine frowned, her eyes wide. "I... I don't know how. What if I do something wrong."

"You won't. Look at me. If you don't help me, that baby will die." Molly said.

Clementine cringed, shuddering at those word. "O-Okay, I'll help. What do you need me to do?"

"Just stay close for now. Hold her hand." Molly said. "I'll tell you if I need you to do anything else."

Clementine gave a meek nod. She sat beside Christa, taking the woman's hand. "It's g-going to be okay, Christa."

"No... No, it's not." Christa said.

"Christa, listen to me." Molly called. "You have to push."

Christa shook her head. "Omid... Omid needs to be here. He has to see this."

Molly disagreed. "Omid needs to keep those geeks from getting in here. And you need to calm down. The last the we need- the last thing the baby needs is Omid panicking and getting you all worked up."

Christa sighed, but nodded. Molly was right, she needed to focus on the baby. Omid would have plenty of time to be with the child once it was born.

"Alright... Time to push." Molly said.

Christa got into lithotomy position, supporting her upper body with her elbows as she sat up just enough to see what was going on.

Christa started to push on Molly's cue.

Molly's determined voice helped her push through the pain, which was beyond anything she had ever imagined.

Clementine winced as Christa clutched tightly on her hand. She let out a small whimper and the woman seemed to ease up a bit on her grip.

For several moments Molly alternated between telling Christa to breath and push.

Suddenly they heard a loud shatter of glass. Molly looked up and noticed a few geeks trying to force their way through a window. "Shit. Clem, take my place."

"W-What?" The child gasped.

"Now!" Molly jumped to her feet and rushed off without another word.

Clementine hesitated before moving to where Molly had sat seconds before. She looked between Christa's legs and her eyes grew wide.

The child didn't know what to do. She had never even seen a baby be born before, and now she was expected to deliver one?

Her mother was a doctor, Clementine had dreamed that she would one day follow in her mother's footsteps, but she never thought she would help deliver a baby before she was even ten years old.

Christa was drenched in sweat, she screamed in pain as another contraction tore through her and Clementine knew she had to do something.

Clementine took a deep breath. "It's okay... Just... Just breath." The girl recalled the things Molly was saying and did her best to mimic the woman.

Danielle had slowly inched her way over and was rubbing Christa's hair to help calm the woman.

"Umm... P-Push!" Clementine said.

Christa screamed loudly from the force of the contraction and pushed.

Clementine waited a few seconds before urging, "Push again!" She didn't know if she was doing it right, but she hoped she was.

The passing minutes consisted of Christa's constant screaming and pushing, and Danielle and Clementine's words of comfort and encouragement.

It wasn't long before the baby started crowning.

"I... I see something!" Clementine exclaimed.

Christa assumed that "something" was her baby's head.

Danielle dared to take a peek, gasping at the sight. She couldn't imagine how much pain Christa must be in right now.

"C-Clem, y-you have to grab it..." Christa managed to get out.

"Grab what?" Clementine asked.

"T-The baby." Christa said. "S-Support its head."

Clementine looked surprised and nervous. Nonetheless, she nodded.

Christa screamed, pushing with all she had.

Clementine carefully slipped her fingers under the infant's head to support it as Christa pushed.

The baby's shoulders soon appeared and Clementine gently brought the child out.

Christa took a moment to catch her breath.

"It's mouth... Clean out its mouth." Christa panted out.

Clementine was worried she might hurt the child. She gently used a damp cloth to clean the infant's mouth. Once she had finished the baby started to cry.

In the moment, Omid and Molly returned, having blocked off several of the windows and the door.

Omid looked at the baby with teary eyes, he knelt beside Clementine who passed him the baby.

"It... It's a girl." Omid announced.

"You should cut the cord." Molly said to Omid.

"With what?" Omid asked.

Molly pulled a pocket knife from her pocket as well as a lighter.

She lit the lighter and let the flame heat the blade. She then offered the knife to Omid.

Omid looked to the blade. "With this? What if- What if I hurt her...?"

"You won't. Don't worry." Molly said. "You got this."

Omid hesitantly took the knife.

Moments later, Omid had cut the umbilical cord and was holding his newborn daughter.

"She needs to be cleaned." Molly said.

"You do that. I don't want to hurt her." Omid said.

Molly nodded and took the newborn from Omid's arms. She used the water Omid had found earlier to clean the baby up. She found nothing wrong with the baby. Christa had given birth to a healthy little girl.

After cleaning the baby, Molly handed her to Christa. In no time everyone was gathered around, excitement filling the church.

Omid tried making funny faces at the baby, but of course the newborn child didn't react.

"Omid, she's only a few minutes old. She can't laugh yet." Christa said. "She can barely even see at this young."

"Oh... I thought I was funny enough to make anybody laugh. No matter how young or old." Omid replied with a chuckle.

Christa rolled her eyes. Christa held the baby close. "She's perfect. Absolutely perfect."

"She is... She's going to be just like her daddy once she gets older." Omid joked.

"I hope not." Christa said with a smirk. She was exhausted but she was also relieved and happy.

"Congratulations, you two." Molly said.

"Thanks." Omid said.

"She's so cute." Clementine said.

"What's her name?" Danielle asked.

Christa looked to Omid and said, "Her name is Genevieve."

Omid smiled, "I like it."

"I bet." Christa responded.

* * *

Christa rested for the remainder of the day, only waking to tend to little Genevieve.

The girls were excited about the new baby.

Especially Clementine.

"She's so adorable. I love her." Clementine said.

"She is, isn't she?" Omid said. "I guess you're a little doctor in training."

Clementine was quiet for a moment before sighing. "My mom was a doctor."

"And it seems like you're a pretty good doctor too." Omid said. "Your parents would be proud of you. Both you and Danielle are wise beyond your years."

"Thanks..." Clementine said. The girl rocked the baby she was holding. A small smile crossed Clementine's lips as she held the infant.

"Looks like Gen really likes you." Omid said, watching as his daughter fell asleep in Clementine's arms.

"I like her too." Clementine said.

"That's good. I guess we'll keep her then." Omid joked.

"I'm glad." Clementine replied.

"I'm sure you and Dani will teach her a lot." Omid said.

Clementine nodded. "We will."

* * *

With enough supplies to last for a few months in the church's storage, the group stayed at the church, not taking the chance of traveling with a newborn.

They had managed to find spar clothes in the church for all the children as well as blankets for the night, although the weather was reasonably warm now.

Omid and Molly would make runs when they needed to get more supplies. They had a nice set up for a few months.

However, during the last four months of them being at the church, there was a notable change in Christa, one that started to occur just weeks after Genevieve was born. One that was concerning to both Molly and Omid.

With Molly's and Omid's focus on making sure everyone was safe, whenever they weren't around Clementine took it upon herself to look after Genevieve.

Christa didn't seem to deal with the baby, or anyone else for that matter, unless it was absolutely necessary.

Even now as Genevieve wailed away in Clementine's arms, Christa didn't take the child.

"Christa," Clementine nudged the woman, trying to get her up.

"Not now, Clem." Christa groaned. "It's too early."

"I can't make her stop crying." Clementine said sounding tired.

"Go back to sleep, she'll cry herself to sleep eventually." Christa said.

"I think she's hungry." Clementine said.

"Clementine, what the hell did I just say? I'm trying to rest!" Christa hissed at the girl.

Clementine flinched. "But there's no milk... You have to-"

"I'll feed her when I feed her, damn it!" Christa snapped.

Clementine whimpered a bit, but walked away. She walked towards their supplies, laying the crying baby down. She searched through their supply bag for some formula. She managed to find some, but it there wasn't much left.

Clementine didn't want to waste it, but with Genevieve wailing the way she was and Christa refusing to nurse right now, she had to feed the baby.

"It's okay, Gen... I'm making you something now..." Clementine spoke to the baby. She scooped some formula into the baby's bottle. She then grabbed a spar water bottle and undid the cap. She poured some water into the baby's bottle before closing it. She shook the bottle up, before picking up little Genevieve.

The baby whimpered a bit until Clementine started to feed the child the bottle.

"It's okay." Clementine said gently. "There you go."

"Is she okay?" Came another small voice.

Clementine glanced up as Danielle approached her. "Yeah. She was just hungry."

"Why didn't Christa feed her?" Danielle asked.

"I don't know..." Clementine said. She didn't understand what was wrong with Christa, it seemed like all the woman ever wanted to do was sleep.

"You look tired..." Danielle said.

"I am... I'll ask Omid to take her when him and Molly get back." Clementine said.

"Where did they go?" Danielle asked.

"On another run I guess... They were already gone when I got up..." Clementine replied. "Hopefully they find more baby formula... Are you hungry?"

"A little..." Danielle said.

"I'll get you something after I take care of Genevieve..." Clementine said.

"You don't have to do everything you know..." Danielle said.

"If I don't who will?" Was Clementine's response.

Danielle frowned. "I don't know..."

"Exactly." Clementine said.

The two girls sat in silence as Genevieve finished her bottle. Clementine burped the baby the way she had been shown how. She then passed the half-asleep infant to Danielle.

Danielle watched as her friend dug a can out of a bag and used a knife to open it with a bit of struggle.

"Here..." Clementine offered her the can once it was open.

"You have to eat too..." Danielle said.

"I will. I'll eat what's left." Clementine said, taking Genevieve back so Danielle could eat.

Just then they heard the church door open.

Omid and Molly returned, carrying backpacks full of supplies.

"Hey kids." Omid greeted the children. "Hey, baby girl..."

Clementine handed him his daughter and he held her close. "Can you watch her now?"

"Sure Clem. You're off duty now." Omid said. "Thanks for looking after her."

"You're welcome. I changed her and fed her..." Clementine said. "Did you get formula?"

"Yeah, you told us we needed some." Omid said.

"Yeah... I just gave her the last bit..." Clementine said.

"Well, we got more." Omid said. "How's Christa?"

"She yelled at me earlier..." Clementine said with a frown. "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine..." Omid said. "How about you and Dani play for a bit."

"Okay..." Clementine said.

* * *

Another month and a half had passed and by now Molly was sure Christa was suffering from post-partum depression.

Molly was aware that postpartum could affect woman after pregnancy, and she was sure that's what Christa was experiencing now. It had to be the reason that Christa had become so detached all of the sudden. Unfortunately, they had no idea how to help her.

Molly wasn't a baby person, every time she held Genevieve she was worried she might somehow hurt the little thing.

For that reason, she was surprised at how good Clementine was with the baby. Little children weren't usually the best when it came to being gentle, yet Clementine took care of Genevieve like it was second nature. The little girl probably looked after Genevieve better than anyone else, even the child's own parents.

Whenever they failed to calm the baby down, somehow Clementine was always able to do it. The now ten-year-old acted much older than Molly had ever seen a child her age act. Clementine was always looking after Genevieve and Danielle, almost to the point where she acted like their mother.

Christa dealt with her daughter to an extent, she would coddle and care for the baby's needs, but whenever the baby started crying Christa seemed to pass the child off, and Clementine was usually the one who calmed the baby down.

It didn't help that Omid would often jokingly ask Clementine if she was going to "take her baby".

Molly felt bad that she couldn't give the children as much attention as before, but as long as they were alive, they were okay. Right?

At least Molly hoped so.

Despite, their constant runs, they were starting to run out of necessities, and the area didn't have any more supplies to offer. They had no choice but to leave.

On the road things were rough, they hadn't expected everything to be easy, but they still wished for a break.

Christa seemed to forget that Clementine and Danielle were still kids. She wanted them to grow up. As a result, she put a lot of pressure on the now eleven and ten year old girls.

Omid and Molly couldn't reason with the woman's demands for the girls to stop acting like kids.

Saying anything would always cause conflict. And they didn't want to make anything worse.

Molly hoped they would find a place to settle down, but it seemed unlikely. They had been on the road for months, and whenever they met a group Christa was so paranoid and distrusting that they would leave.

After another year of non-stop travel, they were all tired. They hoped for a place to settle down long term. They wanted a home, not a pit-stop.

When they heard from a group in passing about a place called Wellington, they didn't know if they should chalk it up to a rumor or if it really existed.

Molly figured they wouldn't know unless they searched for it. If it was real they would at least have a home, and a place for the kids to be kids for once.

When she brought it up to Christa and Omid she was a bit surprised to find they both agreed on her plan to head there.

"You haven't lead us wrong yet." Omid said. "If you think it's a good idea, we're behind you one hundred percent."

"I think it's our best bet." Molly said.

"Alright then." Omid said.

So it was settled. Their next destination was set. They were heading to Wellington.


	18. Chapter 18

**_Thanks to WalkingDeadRox for all your help with this fic._**

 ** _Thanks to gaara king of the sand for looking over._**

* * *

"Look, at this... This woods too wet to burn." Christa sighed.

"Relax, Christa." Omid chimed in. "I think we can all wait."

"What else can we do?" Clementine asked.

"One of you should be doing this." Christa said. "It's something you girls should know how to do, otherwise..." She trailed off.

"I said I would teach them, didn't I?" Omid spoke up.

Christa sent him a look, "Yeah, when's that going to happen?"

"It can happen now..." Omid said.

Clementine shrugged and she got up. She took off her backpack and pulled out a piece of paper and lit it with the lighter. She placed the piece of paper into the fire. She turned to a nearby piece of wood and placed it in the flames.

Molly smirked, "I guess there's not much to teach."

"And what about Danielle?" Christa inquired as she looked at the quiet and reserved child.

"I know how..." Danielle mumbled.

"Really?" Christa inquired.

"Christa..." Omid said. He couldn't understand why she was acting this way. It must have been all the stress of staying alive and getting to Wellington.

"Yeah." Danielle responded. "We know how to take care of ourselves."

As soon as those words left the girl's mouth Molly let out a sigh, wondering how Christa would react.

"I'll believe it when I see it..." Christa said. She looked over to Omid and she said, "Come on. Let's go find some more wood." She stormed out of the camp expecting Omid to follow.

"Mama!" Genevieve whined reach out to the woman.

However, Christa must have not heard her or she was ignoring the toddler.

Genevieve started to cry in response.

"Don't cry, Gen." Clementine comforted the girl. "She'll be back."

Genevieve still whimpered. Clementine didn't want to see her whimper so she walked over and picked up the baby. "It's okay." Clementine said to the baby.

"Can you keep an eye on her?" Omid asked.

"Yeah." Clementine nodded. She liked taking care of Genevieve. It was nice to help.

"They'll be fine." Molly said. "Go ahead."

"Thanks..." Omid said. He raced off to join Christa.

Clementine walked over and joined Danielle. She continued to rub circles on the toddler's back. Genevieve's whimpers started to die down and turn into yawns.

"I think it's naptime." Danielle commented, noticing the baby yawning.

"Yeah..." Clementine said.

"Clem..." Danielle called gently, "Do you think Wellington is really... real?"

"Maybe..." Clementine muttered. "I think it would be better if we just settled down for a while and let Gen grow up like a normal kid."

"Yeah..." Danielle agreed.

Molly looked over to the two girls, "What about you two? You don't think you should get the chance to be normal kids?"

Danielle shrugged, "I don't think we can be..."

"She's right... Our time's up... We're not children anymore..." Clementine said.

Molly shook her head in response. They were wrong. Clementine was eleven and Danielle was ten. They were still children. "Why do you say that?"

"After all we've been through..." Danielle trailed off. "We're not kids."

"So, if you got the chance to live a normal life, you wouldn't want that?" Molly asked.

Both girls became quiet. They had no idea how to answer that. "I don't know..." Clementine said with a frown.

Molly let out a sigh. She couldn't blame the girls for feeling that way. It had been so long since anything was normal, this life was all they knew.

Before this Molly hadn't an idea the children so young could be so depressed. Kids were supposed to be happy, smiling, but those two never seemed to be.

She had to remind them of happier times. "Okay... here's another question. Let's say time went backwards and none of this ever happened, would you like to have a normal life then? You know school, family, going to the park..."

"Yeah..." Danielle looked down. "I miss my mom..."

Clementine frowned and she nodded her head. For the first time in a while she could feel tears in her eyes. She missed her mom and dad. She wanted that life again so much.

Molly gave a small smile, "Look, I know we're not your parents, but we're a family now. And if we can settle somewhere, we'd want it to be so you guys could be kids again."

Clementine looked back up and she said, "But we're not kids..."

Molly rolled her eyes, "Suuure you're not."

Clementine noticed that Genevieve was asleep by this point. "She's really cute." Danielle said.

"Yeah... she is." Clementine said.

"I wouldn't imagine it would take so long to get wood," Molly said, noticing the fire was slowly starting to die out.

Suddenly, they started to hear distant and angry voices.

Danielle's eyes grew wide, "W-What's that?"

"Stay here..." Molly said. She walked from the camp to investigate the source of the yelling.

The girls nodded.

Danielle tried to calm her racing heart, but the only thought going through her mind was 'They're not coming back'

"You look scared." Clementine said to the girl.

Danielle tried to be brave, but she was worried, "Aren't you?"

Clementine nodded her head. "I'm scared of what's going to happen... if they don't come back."

"We'll take care of ourselves." Danielle said, almost as if she was trying to convince herself. "We know how."

Clementine shook her head and she said, "We barely know how to take care of ourselves. Last time I tried to take care of myself, I was sick for almost a week, and I got a broken leg from it all. Plus... we have a baby with us."

"We'll figure it out." Danielle said. "Gen will be fine. How hard can it-"

The girl was cut off by the sound of a gunshot ranging through the air.

Clementine jolted to her feet. The sound had woken up Genevieve and she started to cry again.

"What do we do?" Danielle asked. Surely, she was right, she knew they weren't coming back... They had to be dead.

Dani latched onto Clementine's arm, her big talk about being able to take care of themselves gone.

Clementine shook her head and she said, "We need to leave." She wrestled out of Danielle's grip and picked up Genevieve's bag.

"But Molly said stay here." Danielle's eyes flashed to the trees, searching nervously for walkers. "Where will we go?"

"Anywhere but here. That fire is going to draw them here." Clementine said. She used one arm to carry Genevieve and the other to get Danielle out of there.

Danielle gave a nod, holding Clementine's hand while frantically looking around for walkers. She hoped Genevieve would stop crying.

"Gen," She called to the crying toddler. "It's quiet time."

Clementine released Danielle's hand and dug out the toddler's pacifier. "Here's your friend." Clementine said and she put the pacifier in the baby's mouth. This seemed to be the key to calm her down. Her cries had finally stopped.

"That works..." Danielle commented as the baby quieted down.

"Yup..." Clementine said with a smile. They continued through the forest despite the cold condition of the night. Morning couldn't come fast enough.

"It's freezing..." Danielle complained.

"Yeah... we need to find sweatshirts or coats... one of the two." Clementine said. She was thankful that Genevieve was warm with a hooded sweatshirt and jeans on. Plus, there was a blanket in her bag if she got too cold.

Danielle looked to Genevieve who was resting her head on Clementine's shoulder, "I can carry her when you get tired." She offered.

"Thanks... but she's not that heavy yet." Clementine said. "So... how are you holding up?"

"I'm okay..." Danielle replied. "That gunshot... Do...Do you think they're okay?"

There was a long pause before Clementine replied. "I don't know... We have to just assume the worst and look after Gen until we see one of them."

Danielle swallowed, "But we're just kids... How are we supposed to take care of a baby?" Her words were completely contradicting her earlier statement, but she couldn't help it. She was scared.

The first people she had come to trust and they were just gone... just like that.

"Same way, somehow... we'll get it done." Clementine said. "It won't be easy, but I think we can do it."

"Yeah... You're right." Danielle nodded, "We just have to stick together."

"That's right..." Clementine said. The morning sun was finally starting to rise.

The two were just wandering aimlessly. In all honesty they had no idea where they were going they were just focusing on getting away from that area.

Both of their legs hurt as they walked further down the road. They wanted to rest. "Okay... Let's rest for a few minutes..." Clementine said with a huff.

"Yeah." Danielle agreed.

They sat down on the nearby grass. Clementine could feel that Genevieve was also awake. "Good morning. Did you have a nice nap?" Clementine asked the baby.

"Mama?" Genevieve looked around, unable to see her mother she spoke again, "Dada?"

"Mama and dada are busy... They'll be back eventually." Clementine lied. She didn't want to lie to the toddler, but she knew Genevieve would cry really loudly if she told her the truth. "You hungry? Does your tummy have the rumblies?" Clementine said and she started to tickle the toddler's tummy.

The toddler nodded, "Food!"

She giggled as Clementine finished tickling her. The girl dug out a container of applesauce and opened it. She also got a plastic spoon.

"What's our plan?" Danielle asked, looking up at the sky, "It looks like it might rain soon. We shouldn't have Gen out here."

Genevieve sat on Clementine's lap and ate the applesauce while Clementine got the bib on her. "I don't know... Find shelter." Clementine said. "There's got to be a couple of cabins out here for when people go hunting."

Danielle sighed, she didn't know why she expected Clementine to know what to do. She was sure the girl was just as scared as her, Clementine was just good at hiding her fear.

Clementine looked over to Danielle and she said, "Don't worry... we'll find some shelter soon."

"Alright. I believe you." Dani replied offering Clementine a tiny smile.

Genevieve finished her breakfast while Clementine and Danielle split a granola bar.

"We should get moving." Clementine said, she knew it wasn't safe to stick around an area too long.

"Do you want me to carry her now?" Danielle asked.

Genevieve shook her head and she said, "Walk." It was an indication that she wanted to walk.

"Oh..." Danielle replied.

Clementine allowed the girl to stand as she picked up the bag before offering the toddler her hand.

"I'll let you carry her when it's almost time for her N-A-P." Clementine said.

"Okay." Danielle nodded. "I just feel like you're doing all the work. I can help too, you know."

"I know, Dani." Clementine said. "You just seemed really scared and worried, and I thought you needed some space to think to yourself."

"I'm sure you're scared too." Danielle responded. "You're just good at pretending you're not." Danielle then sighed, "I'm fine... okay?"

"Okay." Clementine said. "And yeah... you're right... I'm always scared. I'm scared that you or Gen will get hurt." She looked down with a bit of a frown.

"I'm worried about you two too..." Danielle admit. "We'll protect each other."

"More importantly we'll protect Gen." Clementine said with a smile as she looked down at the baby. The baby seemed to be in her own world as the two girls talked. She looked around the surrounding forest and the sound of birds chirping.

"Yeah." Danielle said.

They wouldn't let anything happen to that baby.

The two children kept walking in silence. They were both nervous, but as long as they were together they hoped things would be alright.

It was still early in the morning, but the children were already completely exhausted.

They were also worried about Christa, Omid, and Molly.

Other than the shuffle of their footsteps, and the calls of birds the area was quiet. Clementine and Danielle continued to walk in silence for a while, Clementine was still carrying Genevieve who was close to drifting off.

"Are you okay, Danielle?" Clementine asked.

"I'm okay. What about you?" Danielle questioned back.

Clementine shrugged. "We can take a break if you want."

"What do you want to do?" Danielle asked.

"I don't know… We need to figure out a plan. Somewhere to go." Clementine said.

"What about Christa, Omid, and Molly?" Danielle asked.

"Mama… dada?" Genevieve perked up, looking around.

"It's okay…" Clementine rubbed the toddler's back. "I'm sure they'll look for us. They'll find us."

"What if… What if they don't...?" Danielle said.

"They will… Let's not think about what ifs…" Clementine said.

"Okay…" Danielle agreed.

"Come on, let's take a break." Clementine urged.

Danielle gave a nod.

The two children came upon a camp ground. After checking that it was safe they stopped to rest.

"It looks like scavengers came through here." Danielle noted.

"Yeah, hopefully they don't come back." Clementine said.

"Maybe we shouldn't stick around for too long." Danielle said.

"We won't, but we got to rest for a while. We're both exhausted." Clementine said.

"Down?" Genevieve said.

"You want to get down?" Clementine asked the baby.

"Down!" The toddler exclaimed.

"Why do you want to get down?" Clementine was sure if she should put the toddler down. She didn't know how safe the campground was for the baby to explore.

"Pway." Genevieve said.

"There's nothing to play around here, Gen." Clementine said.

Genevieve started whimpering in response.

"Gen, please don't cry. This isn't a good spot to play." Clementine said.

The toddler however did start crying.

Clementine started rocking the child, trying to shush her.

"Maybe I can find something for her to play with." Danielle suggested.

"Like what?" Clementine asked.

"I don't know..." Danielle said honestly. "I'll just look around..."

"I guess you can do that. She's probably just tired though." Clementine said.

Danielle nodded and got to her feet. The ten-year-old, made her way over to a broken-down van, hoping to find something for the toddler to play with.

Clementine continued rocking Genevieve as Danielle searched through the truck.

Danielle picked up a picture of a family and their dog. She examined it, wondering what had happened to the people in the photo. She frowned and put the photo back. She checked a box beside the truck finding it was full of toys. "Wow..."

"What'd you find?" Clementine called to her.

"A Barbie doll. I haven't seen one of these in so long." Danielle said.

"Me either." Clementine admitted. "I can't remember the last time I played with a doll."

"You think Gen can play with this?" Danielle asked.

"I don't know if she should. She'll probably just put it in her mouth." Clementine said.

"True." Danielle put the doll back into the box. "What should we do now?"

Clementine opened her mouth to respond, just as they heard a rustling in the and Danielle tensed, expecting a walker to appear. However, a moment later a dog walked out into the clearing.

The girls looked to the animal with wide eyes.

The dog looked back at the children and let out a bark.

Clementine felt Genevieve jump in her arms. The toddler started whimpering more. "Shh... It's okay. Danielle, get over here."

"Wait." Danielle said before looking to the dog. "It's okay, boy. We're not going to hurt you."

"Danielle..."

"It's alright, Clem." Danielle reassured her friend before once again speaking to the dog. "Come here, boy."

"Be careful." Clementine said, watching the dog approached the younger girl.

Danielle hesitantly pet the animal. "Good boy..." She muttered. She reached for his collar and checked the tag. "His name's Sam."

"You should be careful around him."

"Why?"

"He might... be dangerous." Clementine said. Growing up, she remembered her mother hadn't been fond of dogs, so it was only natural that she'd be cautious when it came to Sam.

"He seems nice." Danielle said. "There was a picture in the truck of a family and a dog. I'm pretty sure the dog was Sam. I... guess his owners didn't make it."

Clementine was still wary of the dog and little Genevieve was terrified of the unfamiliar creature.

Danielle walked back towards her friend and to her surprise, Sam followed.

Genevieve let out a couple fearfully whimpers as she saw the dog approaching.

"It's okay, Gen. He won't hurt us." Clementine said to the toddler.

The baby continued clinging to Clementine, but her whimpers slowly died down as she noticed Clementine pet the dog.

"See... He's nice." Clementine said to Genevieve. As much as she didn't trust the dog, she didn't want the baby to be scared.

"You think he was out here for a while?" Danielle wondered.

"Maybe..." Clementine said. "You want to pet him, Gen?"

Genevieve still appeared nervous, but reached out a tiny hand to touch the dog.

Sam tried sniffing Genevieve but the toddler pushed the dog's nose away with a whine.

"It's okay, Genevieve. He's nice remember." Clementine said.

Suddenly the dog began barking, starting all three children. Genevieve started wailing. Clementine tried to comfort the baby.

Sam continued his barking and Clementine sighed.

"Here." Clementine passed Genevieve to Danielle. "I'm going to find out what's got him worked up."

"Are you sure?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah."

"I should go too." Danielle said.

Clementine shook her head. "If he's barking at something... bad, I don't want Genevieve to see."

"Okay... Be careful." Danielle said.

"I will." Clementine replied.

Clementine cautiously walked towards Sam. She quickly noticed what the dog was barking at. "It's okay. He's dead." She spoke to the still barking dog.

Clementine knelt by the walker, which was tied to a tree. "Look, you can see the bite. Looks like he tried to cut it out... But that never works. Ever.

"Are you okay, Clem?" Danielle called from where she was sitting. She had managed to calm Genevieve down and was rocking the toddler to sleep.

"We're fine. Just look after Gen." Clementine stood up and turned to Sam. "It's okay, we're smart and he's not. We're smarter than all of them."

She looked around for a weapon, finding a large branch. She picked the branch up and said, "Stand back, okay."

Sam had stopped barking, but was still growling.

Clementine used the branch to hit the walker with a bit of struggle. After multiple hits, the creature was finally dead.

Clementine took the chance to catch her breath. She then grabbed the knife that was sticking out of the corpse's arm and cleaned it off. She could no longer hear Genevieve crying and figured Danielle had calmed the baby down.

"Come on, Sam." She started back towards her friend with Sam following behind her.

Clementine notice Genevieve was practically asleep. "We should get moving."

"Alright... What happened? You got blood on you." Danielle said.

"There was a walker, I took care it." Clementine said.

"Oh..."

"Come on, let's go." Clementine said.

Danielle got to her feet. She glanced over to Sam who was sniffing around the area. "Sam, come on."

The dog didn't even look towards the children.

"Sam?" Danielle called.

"I guess he's doesn't want to make friends..." Clementine said.

"But we can't leave him." Danielle frowned.

"If he wants to join us, he'll find us. Let's get moving." Clementine said.

"Okay..." Danielle agreed.

The two children started walking further into the woods. They continued walking for a while and much to Danielle's disappointment, Sam didn't follow them.

They had been walking almost an hour when they came to a river. Danielle was carrying Genevieve who was fast asleep.

Hearing a loud roar of thunder, Danielle looked back to the sky before checking to make sure the loud noise hadn't woken the baby. "I think it's going to rain soon." She whispered.

She looked around spotting a walker not too far. "Clem, up ahead."

"Yeah..." Clementine said. She grabbed her knife and she approached the walker.

As the child walked towards the walker it turned, noticing the girl's presence, it started staggering for her.

Clementine weaved away from it and kicked its knee. The walker fell with a growl on all fours.

Clementine finished it off with her knife.

Danielle, stayed back a bit, waiting until the walker fell. "I hope we find some shelter soon. Gen will catch a cold if we get stuck in the rain."

"So will we..." Clementine said. They continued on, but it seemed that more walkers were showing up.

Clementine continued to kill as many walkers as she could. She didn't want Danielle or Genevieve getting hurt.

"They just keep coming..." Danielle said, clutching protectively to Genevieve.

Clementine huffed and she said, "We have to go." She grabbed Danielle's hand and ran for an opening.

Danielle ran with her friend, noticing the girl seemed exhausted. She was tired, so she was sure Clementine had to be too, even more so, considering they had walked for so long and Clementine had been fighting walkers all day. The older girl was always pushing herself so hard.

They had run for several minutes until Clementine finally stopped. She huffed as she leaned over on her knees.

"I think we're good." Danielle said. She looked back to Clementine and cringed, "You're... You're covered in..."

"It's alright, Dani." Clementine said. "I can just get it cleaned off. We got to keep moving."

All of the sudden they heard barking. The children looked to see Sam racing their way. He attacked one of the walkers, knocking it down. Clementine proceeded to kill more of the walkers, thankful that Sam had come to her aid.

After clearing out a majority of the walkers, Clementine caught her breath. "T-Thank you, Sam."

She reached out to pet the dog, but was startled when he let out a growl.

Clementine took a step back only to be tackling by the dog. She yelled out as she hit the ground. She put her arm up to defend herself and the dog chomped down.

"Clementine!" Danielle shrieked in horror. Her yell cause baby Genevieve to wake up and start crying.

She set the baby down much to the baby's cries. She ran over and kicked the dog, trying to force it off her friend. She didn't want to hurt Sam, but she couldn't let him hurt her friend either.

Sam refused to let go, his teeth was locked onto Clementine's arm and despite the girl's struggles, she was getting nowhere.

The dog was reacting to Clementine the same way predator did to prey. Pin, bite, kill.

Danielle knew if she didn't do something, Sam would kill her best friend. She couldn't let that happen. Clementine was the most important person to her. She couldn't lose her best friend.

Taking no chances, Danielle picked up the knife that Clementine had dropped during the attack, and stabbed the dog in the head, killing him.

Clementine clutched her bleeding arm, gritting her teeth in pain. Her senses were telling her go check on Genevieve, but her body wasn't fighting against her, it was a struggle just to move.

"Clem, are you okay?" Danielle asked, concerned about her friend.

"Help Genevieve..." Clementine said. "She's defenseless."

Danielle quickly looked to Gen who was crying on the ground. She ran over and pulled the baby into her arms, trying her best to shush her.

Genevieve wasn't having it though, she continued to wail.

"Sam?!" A man's voice was heard.

"Is that a baby?" Another, older voice asked.

Danielle froze in her tracks for a moment before making her way back to Clementine. "Get up, Clem... People are coming!" She once again tried to hush the crying toddler, but she stopped as she realized it wasn't working.

Clementine groaned as she got to her feet, but the footsteps were getting closer. It was no use. There was nowhere to run.

"Give her here..." Clementine said with a huff. She sat back down as Danielle gave her the baby. Clementine got out a bottle and started to feed the toddler. Her cries were finally subsiding as she drank from the bottle. "There you go... You were thirsty and tired."

"You're bleeding..." Danielle muttered, looking concerned.

"I know..." Clementine said. She sounded tired.

Suddenly, two men appeared. One was armed with a machete while the other was armed with a crossbow.

"Holy shit..." The older man muttered with sympathetic eyes.

"Oh fuck! Sam!" The younger one exclaimed as he went to the dead dog.

Danielle watched in fear as the two men approached, she clenched her knife. She wouldn't hesitate to use it if they tried anything.

"You... You killed our dog!" The younger man exclaimed.

"Luke, easy. There might be a reasonable explanation for this." The older man said.

"That's… your dog?" Danielle inquired with slight hesitation.

"He was! Until you killed him!" Luke said.

Danielle shot the man a glare, "Well, your dog bit my friend!"

"What?" Luke exclaimed. "No... no that shouldn't have happened. We trained him to attack walkers."

"Do we look like walkers to you?" The little girl asked in annoyance. She was nervous, but she had to be tough. She knew they wouldn't stand a chance against these men, but she wasn't going to show that she was scared.

"Okay, okay..." The older man said as he signaled Danielle to calm down. "How about we make it up to you by taking you back to our cabin and helping your friend get treated."

"What about Sam?" Luke asked. "Pete, they kill him."

"Screw the dog. I ain't doing shit since it attacked two little girls and a baby." Pete snapped.

Danielle didn't know if she could trust these people. She knew what people were capable of… What _men_ were capable of. Her gaze drifted over to her friend, the girl was holding Genevieve in her lap, but seemed barely conscious.

Danielle sighed and she said, "Fine... I don't want to trust either of you... but... my friend needs help."

"Alright. We shouldn't stay here long, all that noise probably alerted lurkers." Pete said. "Luke, get the girl."

Luke grumbled, looking away from Sam, he went to pick up the injured child.

However, Danielle got in the way. "I don't trust you." Danielle said to Luke. "I... I'll trust him." Her stare was aimed at the older man.

The older man sighed and he said, "Alright..." He walked over to pick up Clementine while Danielle picked up Genevieve. After finishing her bottle, the baby was back to being asleep.

Luke immediately backed off. The little girl was pretty intimidating for how small she was. Speaking of which, he wondered what three little kids were doing all alone.

The older man picked up Clementine who was drifting out of consciousness. "It's alright. Go ahead and rest up. I got you." Pete said to the girl. He led the way to the supposed cabin while Danielle followed him with Genevieve in her arms. Luke walked alongside her.

"So… what are you doing out here alone? Where are the people you are with?" Luke asked. "There's no way you three made it this far on your own especially with that baby. She's what? Eighteen months old...? The lurkers have been here longer than her."

Danielle sent Luke an untrusting look. "What were you doing out here?"

"We were down by the river getting some fish for dinner." Luke said. "Now, what are you doing out here by yourselves? Where are your people? I don't want them to think that we're doing anything but helping you kids."

"We got split up." Danielle responded. "But we can take care of ourselves, so don't worry."

"Yeah... sure you can." Luke said with a scoff.

"We were doing just fine without you." Danielle stated. "She wouldn't have been hurt if it weren't for your dog."

Luke looked down with a frown and he said, "...I'm sorry... I never would have thought that Sam would have done that. He has never attacked any of us."

"Probably all the blood..." Pete spoke.

"What?" Danielle asked confused.

"Your friend's covered in blood." Pete said.

"Walker blood to add on top of it. He must have mistaken her as a walker." Pete added.

"Alright... so it was just a mistake." Luke said.

Danielle sighed, "Okay... Fine." She tried not to feel bad for killing the animal, by telling herself it was him or Clementine.

The group started to weave away from the river and went into the forest.

Danielle hoped that these people were actually planning on helping them. However, part of her couldn't help but feel anxious. She hoped they would be alright.


	19. Chapter 19

**_Thanks to WalkingDeadRox for helping me with this._**

 ** _And gaara king of the sand for helping as well._**

* * *

"He's not waking up! Why won't he wake up?" Christa was overwhelmed with a sense of panic as she dropped by Omid's side.

"Christa, calm down." Molly said. "Pull yourself together."

"How can I?" Christa asked. "Omid's shot! The girls are missing!"

"Panicking's not going to help the situation. Just calm down." Molly said.

The bandits had been easy shots, and Molly had quickly dropped two of them. The third however, managed turned his gun to her direction. Omid noticed this and rushed to grab the weapon, which resulted in him getting shot. The third bandit made a run for it before Christa or Molly could kill him.

Molly had applied pressure to Omid's wound in order to stop the bleeding. After several moments passed the blood flow had slowed enough for her to release pressure.

Molly used a piece of her sleeve to tie around the wound, but she knew it would likely just bleed through if they didn't stitch it up soon.

The two women lifted Omid's unconscious body and started carrying him back towards the direction of their camp. To their dismay, when they arrived they noticed the girls were nowhere to be seen.

With Omid injured they hadn't been able to look for the children. Molly knew if they didn't do something soon, Omid wouldn't make it.

"I can't just calm down… With everything that's happened how can I just calm down?" Christa mumbled.

"I know there's a lot going on, but you have to pull it together. We need to come up with a plan." Molly said.

Christa looked her and stammered, "B-But he's-"

Molly stopped her. "He's gonna be fine. We just… We just got to keep calm."

"How can you say that? He's not fine! He's been shot!" Christa exclaimed.

"We'll take care of it. Just take a deep breathe." Molly spoke in a calm voice, she knew now wasn't the time to panic.

"With what supplies?!" Christa asked.

"We'll have some stuff back at camp. We'll find whatever we don't have." Molly said.

Christa nodded, taking a deep breathe before asking, "Where are the girls?"

"I left them at the camp." Molly said.

Christa's eyes grew wide. "You what?!"

"They're fine. Clem and Dani know how to handle themselves." Molly said.

Christa shook her head. "They're just kids. They should have someone with them."

"Christa, trust me. They'll be fine. They know what to do in a bad situation." Molly said.

Christa sighed. "Y-Yeah… You're right."

"Look, let's try to stop the bleeding." Molly said.

Christa nodded.

* * *

"This cabin...How far is it?" Dani asked.

"Just a bit further." Pete said.

Danielle could tell that Clementine was asleep at this point. She felt bad for her. She didn't want her to get hurt.

"I don't think we got your names..." Luke spoke.

Danielle didn't reply. She wasn't going to tell them their names that easily.

Luke noticed the girl's silence and decided to try another tactic. "I'm Luke, and this is Pete." He introduced, hoping the child would follow suit.

She still didn't say a word. She didn't trust them enough.

"Fine... I uh, I'll just have to assume you don't have names then." Luke joked.

Danielle continued to ignore him as the group continued forward.

Eventually, they reached the cabin. However, Danielle could feel Genevieve squirm. She was awake. "Down." Genevieve said.

Danielle didn't want to put the baby down, but she didn't want her crying either. "In a minute, okay?"

"Otay..." Genevieve said.

Danielle was glad that the baby could be patient with her. Must have something that the toddler had learned because of Christa.

They continued towards the cabin.

Pete felt the little girl in his arms stir. The girl had been drifting in and out of sleep since he began carrying her. He looked down at the child. "Hey... this might be a dumb question to ask, but are you feeling alright?" Pete asked.

Clementine didn't respond.

"You girls don't talk much, huh?" Luke asked.

Clementine still didn't reply. She wanted to get out of the man's grip, but she knew that she was too drained to walk. She looked over to the cabin and saw a young man come out with a rifle.

"Uncle Pete! Luke! What the fuck?" The man inquired as he glared at the girl in Pete's arms. His glare was then aimed at Danielle.

Danielle held Genevieve protectively, sending the man a glare of her own.

"Calm down, Nick." Luke said. "We can explain."

Nick glared back at the girl that Pete was holding and his eyes widened. "Son of a bitch! One of them is bit!" Nick exclaimed as he aimed the gun at her.

"Whoa, Nick!" Luke called, "She wasn't bit... Well, not by a lurker."

"Put the gun down, son! You shoot her and you'll hit me too." Pete huffed. "She was bit by the dog."

"Sam...? speaking of which where is he." Nick said. He seemed to be calming down.

"I... I killed him..." Danielle spoke up.

"What the fuck?!" Nick looked horrified, he aimed his gun at the girl.

Genevieve was crying now, scared by all the noise.

"He was going to kill my friend!" Danielle said. "I... I had to..."

Upon hearing the baby's cry and Danielle's frantic voice, Clementine started to move in the man's grasp, trying to get him to put her down.

"Nick stop it!" Pete exclaimed. "You got that gun aimed at a little girl and a baby! Who gives damn? It was just a stupid dog!"

The commotion outside drew out three other people. One was clearly pregnant, the other was a stocky man, and the last one appeared to be in his mid-forties.

"What's going on?" The woman asked. "Who the hell are they?"

Genevieve cried louder which made Clementine try harder to get out of Pete's grip.

"Easy kid." Pete said. He turned to the woman and he said, "Rebecca, can you help calm the baby? It would help calm this girl down a bit."

Rebecca looked to the crying child, and her gaze softened a bit. She hadn't seen a baby in so long, it was almost unbelievable.

Danielle quickly took a step back. "I can do it..." She started shushing the baby. She didn't want any strangers to take the baby.

Rebecca sighed and she walked over. "Here, honey. I'll take over." Rebecca said.

Danielle shook her head and took a step back, keeping Genevieve in a protective grip.

"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt her or you for that matter. I'm expecting soon... if you couldn't already tell." Rebecca's voice was actually kind and soothing.

Danielle hesitated, she continued to try to quiet Genevieve, to no avail. Clementine was better at calming the baby and Danielle knew if Genevieve kept crying it would draw walkers.

"Okay..." Danielle gave in, allowing the woman to take the baby, but making sure to stay close by to keep an eye on her.

Genevieve continued to cry as Rebecca did her best to soothe the baby. She cradled the baby in her arms and looked to her with a smile. Eventually, the baby's cries started to die down to whimpers and then to a look of intrigue. She was curious of the woman.

"So... what happened?" The man asked Pete.

"Found these three by the river." Pete said. "Sam attacked them, must have mistaken her," He motioned to the child in his arms "for a walker." He explained.

"She's got a bad bit on her arm." Luke added.

The little girl had calmed down a bit when the baby had gone silent, but Pete could still feel how tense the kid was, she was clearly uncomfortable.

"Don't worry, kid." He adjusted his grip on her so that she can see Genevieve, Rebecca, and Danielle. Danielle looked up to Clementine and nodded in an indication that the baby was okay. "The baby's fine." Pete said

Clementine sighed in relief.

"Let me take a look at her arm…" The man, who Clementine and Danielle now assumed was the group's medic said.

Clementine closed her eyes as he stepped towards her.

"It's alright, Carlos ain't gonna hurt you. He's a doctor." Luke said to the frightened eleven-year old.

Carlos gently took hold of the child's arm and roll up his sleeve. He hummed. "This is definitely going to need stitches. We'll have to take care of it before it gets infected."

"How do we know she's not already infected?" The guy with the rifle asked. "I say we just shoot her now."

"Don't!" Danielle exclaimed. "Please, don't hurt her!"

"I'm going to treat her arm." Carlos said. "But can I ask what three little girls are doing out here alone?"

Danielle frowned. "We… got split up... Our group was attacked…"

"But who?" Rebecca asked.

"I… I don't know…" Danielle said.

"Let's take them inside so I can treat her arm." Carlos said.

The group agreed and headed inside the cabin.

* * *

"Everything's screwed… We should've been in Wellington…" Christa ranted.

"Christa please…"

"Please what?" Christa hissed. "The kids are gone! My baby is missing!"

"We'll find them…" Molly said.

"How do you know? Where the hell are they?" Christa inquired.

"I… I don't know. But, Christa we can't worry about them right now…" Molly said.

"What?" Christa asked. "We have to worry about them."

"I'm sure their alright." Molly said. "Right now we need to find some place to treat Omid's injuries. Otherwise, he's gonna die."

Christa frowned. "You're right…"

"Let's gather whatever supplies we can and get moving." Molly said.

Christa gave a nod.

Molly was worried. She wanted to find the girls, but she had to trust they would be alright. Right now, they had to focus on saving Omid's life. They last thing she wanted was for him to catch an infection or bleed to death.

She just hoped everything would be okay…

* * *

Pete placed Clementine on the couch while the man that claimed that he would treat her arm went upstairs. "Carlos will be back with some medical supplies to treat your arm." Pete said.

"I don't know about this, Uncle Pete. What if they're working with Carver." Nick said.

"Bill's not stupid enough to use two kids and a baby to find us." Rebecca said. She still had Genevieve in her arms.

"Well... What if she's bit? Like for real...?" Nick asked. "She's covered in blood, who says there's not a bite?"

"Carlos will have a look at her to make sure." Pete said. "You don't have to worry about that."

"How can I not worry. This isn't how we do things, when you're bit you get put down! I'm not going through this again."

"Sam's the one who bit her, boy!" Pete said.

"Nick, look… Just go outside or something. We can handle this." Luke said.

"Like hell you can." Nick scoffed.

"Down…" Genevieve suddenly said to Rebecca.

"Yeah, Nick. Calm down." The stocky man spoke. "I doubt their group would be too happy to hear you shot one of their kids."

"Just because you trust them, doesn't mean I have to, Alvin." Nick said.

Despite the tension in the room, Rebecca smiled at little Genevieve. "You want to get down?"

"Yes pwease." Genevieve said.

Rebecca placed the child down before looking to Danielle, "Hey, sweetie. What's your name?"

Danielle looked over to Clementine. She felt better telling the kind, pregnant woman her name over the group of men, but she wanted Clementine's confirmation.

Clementine gave a nod. If these people were going to help, she saw no harm in giving their names.

Danielle nodded back and she looked to Rebecca. "I'm Danielle... that's Clementine... and the baby is Genevieve." Danielle said.

Rebecca offered her a smile, "Aren't those pretty names."

"Thanks..." Danielle said as she looked over to where Genevieve was. She saw that the baby was about to put a chess piece in her mouth. Danielle ran over and took the chess piece from her.

"Here you go." Danielle said as went through the bag and placed the pacifier in the baby's mouth. Danielle also got a plush toy out for her to play with.

Genevieve smiled under her pacifier and she started to play with the toy.

Carlos soon came downstairs, carrying a bag which Clementine assumed was full of medical supplies.

He walked over to Clementine and he took the girl's arm. "Hmm... certainly does look like a dog bite... Good riddance. I was always afraid that Sarah was going to get bit by that thing."

"You gotta check her for a bit, man. This doesn't make any sense. She's covered in blood!" Nick said.

"If it makes you feel better, fine. I'll check her." Carlos replied.

"Head to toe?" Nick asked.

"I might as well." Carlos nodded.

Clementine's eyes went wide upon hearing that.

"She wasn't bit." Danielle said.

"Of course you would say that." Nick said, shooting the child a look.

"She wasn't…" Danielle said again. "I would know."

"And how the hell would you know?" Nick demanded.

Danielle gave a slight flinch at his harsh tone. "I was with her. She never got bit."

"I call bullshit!" Nick spat.

"I… I won't let you… I won't let you touch her…" Danielle said quickly to Carlos. "I won't let you h-hurt her…"

Carlos furrowed his brows at that. Rebecca also frowned.

"Then that must be proof that she's bitten." Nick stated.

"She's not!" Danielle exclaimed. "She never got bit!"

"I won't buy it unless she's checked." Nick said.

"I'll check her for a bite, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave the room Nick." Carlos said.

Nick groaned. "You can't be serious."

"I am." Carlos said. "I'm complete serious."

Nick just huffed in response. "Whatever."

Carlos waited for him to walk out. "I'd like a bit of privacy." He said to the others as well.

Luke, Pete, and Alvin stepped from the room.

"I know you're afraid, but I'm not going to hurt you." Carlos assured Clementine.

"Are you gonna make her… t-take her clothes off?" Danielle asked.

"That'd be the best way to check her for a bite." Carlos said.

"T-Then I'll keep an eye on you… To… to make sure that's all you're doing." Danielle claimed.

Carlos and Rebecca exchanged looks at that.

"No one's going to hurt you girls." Rebecca said. "I promise you that."

Carlos was concerned by the children's reactions, but said nothing of it. He placed the back of his hand on Clementine's forehead, testing her temperature. "You're a bit warm, but... you're not as warm as you would be if a lurker had bitten you. You're also not pale."

Clementine flinched as the doctor touched her, but didn't respond.

Carlos didn't miss how the child was trembling, her eyes tightly shut.

"S-So she won't have to take her clothes off, right?" Danielle stammered.

"As a precautionary measure I should give her a thorough checkup…" Carlos didn't miss the look of fear on Clementine's face when he said that. "But I guess I can take your word that she wasn't bit."

Danielle sighed in relief. "Is she going to be okay?" Danielle asked gently.

"Yeah... but you might want to get the baby away from here. There's going to be a lot of yelling. We don't have morphine and I have to stitch up her arm." Carlos said.

"Here, how about we go in the kitchen?" Rebecca said, placing a hand on Danielle's shoulder, "I'm sure you girls are hungry."

Danielle looked back to Clementine. She didn't want to leave Clementine.

"Thank you... but I'll stay here and help Clem. Just please keep Genevieve safe." Danielle said to Rebecca.

Rebecca nodded in understanding, "Okay, sweetie."

The woman went to the toddler, "Come on, baby." She picked the child up, "Let's get you some food."

Genevieve made some muffled noise from under the pacifier as Rebecca carried her into the kitchen.

Clementine seemed alright with Rebecca looking after her. Carlos cleared his throat and he said, "How about you hold Clementine's hand? It'll help a little bit." Carlos said to Danielle.

Danielle obliged, taking her friend's hand.

"Alright... this is going to sting." Carlos said. He brought out a bottle of disinfectant and put it on her arm.

Clementine tried to fight back a scream, but it was no use. That stuff DID sting.

Danielle watched her friend, worriedly.

"Alright... This is going to hurt even more." Carlos said. "I have to make sure the stitching will hold."

Clementine gave a tiny nod and braced herself.

Carlos placed the needle with thread against her skin and started to stitch up the wound.

The pain was incredible. Clementine did her best to prevent movement and allow the doctor to continue. Her screams could be heard within the house.

Hearing screams, a teen girl's interest was piqued. Placing her book down, the girl made her way out of her room and down the stairs, "Dad, what's going on?" She looked surprised upon seeing the two little girls in the room. "Who are they?"

"Not now sweetie. That damn dog bit her... I'm trying to stitch up her arm." Carlos said.

Clementine huffed and cried as she gripped Danielle's hand. Her grip was very tight. Danielle shuttered a bit from her strength.

"Sam bit her...?" Sarah questioned, she had thought the dog was so nice, but he hurt a little kid. "Where is he?"

"Dead..." Carlos said. He finally finished up the stitching and wrapped it in bandages. "I'm done." Carlos said. He put his supplies back into his medical bag and gave Danielle a pill. "Have her take that with water to numb the pain."

"T-Thank you..." Danielle accepted the pill. Clementine had loosened her grip on her hand, which Danielle was thankful for.

Carlos nodded and he left the room to go upstairs.

"Clem, can you walk?" Danielle asked the girl.

Clementine looked around and noticed that there weren't any men in sight. "Yeah... I'm just really tired." Clementine said. "That dog bite took a lot out of me."

"Do you want the pill?" Danielle questioned, "I can ask for some water."

"I got some in my bag." Clementine said. She pulled out a bottle of water from her bag and accepted the pill. "Thanks..." Clementine said. She placed the pill in her mouth and swallowed it with the water.

"Do you want to try and sleep for a while? I'll stay with you." Danielle said. "Or... You can hold Flopsie, if you want."

Clementine giggled a bit. She wasn't sure how Danielle had retained some of her youth, but she loved it about the girl.

"I'll be fine for a few hours... let's get something to eat..." Clementine said.

"Okay," Danielle offered her hand to help her friend up.

Clementine accepted the help up. They walked into the kitchen to see Nick storm outside through the backdoor and Luke following him. They looked over to see Alvin and Rebecca smiling at Genevieve. She seemed to be eating oatmeal. However, she kept looking to the adults as she ate. She smiled and giggled at the attention which made the adults laugh.

Danielle gave a small smile, she was happy to see Genevieve being taken care of. She hated when she cried.

Clementine went over and grabbed a bowl of oatmeal. She sat next to the big guy since she knew that Danielle would be more comfortable with Rebecca.

Rebecca looked up as Danielle took a seat beside her. "Hey girls."

Alvin looked at the children as well and smile, "Arm feeling any better?"

Clementine looked to the man and frowned. She could tell he was a good man, but... her selective mutism wouldn't let her say a word. Clementine could only nod in response and give the man a friendly smile.

"That's good." Alvin said, not minding the girl's silence. He figured she was just shy. "Glad that's sorted out, huh?"

Clementine nodded again. Rebecca quirked an eyebrow and she said, "Alvin, could you do me a favor and see if we have any extra clothes for Genevieve. I think she would love a change of clothes."

"Of course, baby." Alvin said. He got up and left the room. Rebecca watched him to make sure that he left.

"Okay... I think I did here you talk earlier when it was just you and Danielle in the room... can you talk now that it's just us girls in here?" Rebecca said.

Danielle looked to her friend, wondering if she'd speak.

"Yes..." Clementine spoke in such a tiny voice it was almost inaudible.

"So... it's just because Alvin's a man that you didn't speak?" Rebecca asked.

Clementine paused for a moment, "Y-Yes."

"Why does it matter?" Danielle cut in. "She doesn't have to speak if she doesn't want to." Or can't...

"I'm just trying to figure you two out." Rebecca said. "...But... now I think I know what happened..."

Clementine's eyes widened, but she quickly tried to mask her surprise. "N-Nothing happened. What are you talking about?"

"I can see it written all over your faces... Something really bad happened... something that's... hard to talk about... and something that... took your innocence away..." Rebecca said with a frown. She seemed sympathetic toward them.

Clementine and Danielle didn't respond, but Rebecca could read those two like a book. Something terrible had happened to those girls.


	20. Chapter 20

**_Thanks to WalkingDeadRox and Gaara king of the sand for their help._**

* * *

"I'm right, aren't I?" Rebecca asked the two children.

Neither girl responded.

"Sad?" Genevieve asked, noticing the change of mood.

"No, Gen. We're happy." Danielle lied. "Right, Clem?"

"Yeah... don't worry about us, baby girl. We're fine." Clementine said.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about what happened... I understand..." Rebecca said. "That takes time..."

"Thanks..." Clementine said.

"Hey." Alvin was heard. "I found some clothes that would fit Genevieve. Left them on the couch."

"Thanks, silly bear." Rebecca said, she didn't miss how Clementine jumped when the man returned, but she pretended not to notice.

Alvin rolled his eyes and he said, "Sure... at least it's better than big dope."

Rebecca giggled, "You're my big dope."

"Yeah... geez... thanks." Alvin said.

Genevieve watched the adults with curious eyes. She was done eating her food and she actually had done a good job in staying clean as she ate.

Rebecca looked to the toddler, "You're all done?"

Genevieve smiled and nodded her head. "Done." The toddler said.

Rebecca smiled back, "How about we get you cleaned up?" With that she left the room with the baby in her arms.

Clementine smiled. She liked that Genevieve was getting some attention. Maybe this is what Molly was getting at last night. She didn't feel the heavy air to provide for Genevieve and Danielle like she normally did. It almost felt weird.

"Hey, girls. We got running water, so if either of you wanna take showers you can." Alvin informed them. "Maybe Luke or Nick can spar some t-shirts for you to sleep in."

"Umm... thanks." Danielle said. She looked to Clementine and she said, "Do you want to go first?"

Clementine only shrugged in response. She figured she might as well, it'd be nice to get the blood off her.

Clementine nodded in response and she left the room.

* * *

Omid's wound had stopped it's bleeding but Molly was sure he would need stitches. She wanted to prevent an infection, but without supplies she didn't know how they would do that.

Omid had briefly regained consciousness a few times, but he would quickly lose it again. Molly decided she needed to find help.

Leaving Christa to stay with Omid, Molly started to search for some help.

The woman hoped to find someone nearby, who would be willing to lean a hand, or at least some supplies. She knew how rare the chance was to find good people, but if she didn't take the risk, Omid would surely die.

The woman continued walking, making sure to keep track of the area Christa was in, the last thing she needed was to get lost. She left a trail of crumbled leaves, in order to easily find her way back.

She hoped she could find help before it got dark.

* * *

Clementine made her way up the stairs and she looked around. She had no idea where the bathroom was. Clementine tried one of the closed doors and locked eyes with teenage girl.

The girl looked to Clementine and smiled. "Hi." The girl said.

Clementine glanced around, making sure no one else was nearby.

"Hey..." Clementine replied.

"Are you okay?" Sarah asked.

"Y-Yeah..." Clementine cleared her throat. "I'm fine." She glanced around again, "Can you tell me where the bathroom is?"

"Oh yeah... It's actually the door behind you." Sarah said. "Anyway... I'm Sarah."

"Thanks." Clementine gave a nod. "I'm Clementine."

"You want to be friends? We can be best friends. I haven't met another girl in so long." Sarah said with enthusiasm.

"Umm... Sure. We're friends." Clementine didn't see why not.

"Though... I don't want to be mean... but I'm already best friends with someone." Clementine said.

"Oh... Well, maybe we can all be best friends!" Sarah said with a grin.

Clementine giggled a bit. The girl was so innocent. She forgot what that felt like. "Yeah... I don't think Dani would mind it."

"Cool! I have to meet her... but I guess you should take a shower first. Your clothes are..." Sarah trailed off with a gasp. "There's b-blood on your clothes...Is that from Sam biting you?"

"Kind of..." Clementine said.

"Okay... how about I wash them for you. You can wear some of my clothes for a while. They might be a bit big on you, but not too big." Sarah said.

"Alright, I appreciate it." Clementine agreed.

"Cool. I'll let you go ahead and get in the shower. I'll be coming in a bit to switch your clothes with some of mine." Sarah said.

"Okay... Thanks, Sarah." Clementine mumbled.

Clementine was a bit suspicious. Last time, people said that they would wash her clothes, they threw them out and... a lot of horrible things happened.

"What's wrong? You don't trust me?" Sarah asked with a hurt look.

The younger girl bit her lip, "It's not that... It's just... It's hard to explain..."

"Okay... do you just want to stay in here until I can find something for you to wear?" Sarah said.

Clementine nodded. "Yes, please."

"Okay." Sarah said with a smile. She walked over to a drawer and looked around in it. "I guess I can see why you're on edge... You've been out there for a while..."

"Yeah... It's not too good out there." Clementine said gently. She didn't want to remember; she had spent so long trying to forget.

"I bet. I overhear what the adults say sometimes... It sounds scary." Sarah said. She gathered some clothing from the dresser, but she seemed to be looking for something else.

"It can be..." Clementine sighed, "I try not to get scared too easy."

"That's good." Sarah said. "You're a lot braver than me." She finally finished looking through the dresser and she said, "Here you go." She handed the clothing to Clementine. "Towels and washcloths will be in the bathroom. They're in a closet."

Clementine had to be brave, she had Danielle and Genevieve to worry about.

"Thank you," The girl accepted the clothes before heading for the bathroom.

She laid the clothes down and took off her bloody and mucky clothes. She also removed the bandages. Her wound still didn't feel much better. She stepped into the shower and turned it on. It felt amazing and soothing. They had warm water. This cabin was perfect to live out of at the moment.

Meanwhile, Sarah decided to go downstairs and try to get to know the other girl that Clementine had mentioned.

She saw the girl in the living room. She was playing with a plush rabbit toy.

Sarah slowly approached the girl and took a seat beside her, "Hi!" She greeted cheerily.

Danielle jumped out of her seat with her toy in her hands. She huffed until she realized that it was just a girl.

"S-Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you!" Sarah stammered, feeling bad for startling the girl.

Danielle huffed and she said, "It's okay... I just... I wasn't aware of my surroundings.

"I'm Sarah," The teen introduce with a small smile.

"I'm Danielle." Danielle said. She sat back down on the couch. Despite being scared by her earlier, Danielle didn't mind sitting next to Sarah. She seemed friendly enough and she was closer to her age than the other group members in the cabin.

"I was thinking, maybe we could be best friends?" Sarah said. "I met Clementine... She said you wouldn't mind."

"So, wait... all three of us would be friends or something?" Danielle said.

"Yeah." Sarah nodded. "Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Yeah..." Danielle said. She looked down to Flopsie and she said, "This is my bunny rabbit, Flopsie." Danielle said with glee. Her inner child was starting to resurface from being in the cabin.

Sarah looked to the stuffed toy. "She's cute."

"Thanks... I got her back from my mom's camp." Danielle said.

"Where is your mom?" Sarah asked.

Danielle frowned and she said, "Dead... like everyone else..."

"Oh... I... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." Sarah said, looking sad.

"It's alright." Danielle said. "I've had time to grieve... and it helps that Clem's always there for me... She's a good friend. Still... I'm kind of jealous she's getting so many growth spurts and I'm still really tiny."

"Don't worry, you'll get taller." She assured the little girl.

"Hope so... I don't want to be little forever. I look like I'm barely nine." Danielle said.

"How old are you?" Sarah asked.

"I'm a year younger than Clem. I'm ten." Danielle said.

"Clementine's only eleven?" Sarah was a bit surprised. "I guess she's a typical height for her a ten or eleven-year-old... But she sure doesn't act like one..."

"Yeah..." Danielle said. "I wish she would let me help her sometimes. She just seems so depressed. I know that I can be depressed too, but... I still would like to act like a kid sometimes.

"Why's she depressed?" Sarah asked.

"She's... lost a lot of people. Her mom, her dad, and someone who looked after her at the beginning of all of this. From what she told me, she said that she lost her guardian the same day that she saw her parents... as walkers." Danielle explained with a frown.

"That's horrible." Sarah said. "I don't know what to say..."

"Yeah... And we've been through a lot... thankfully... Genevieve has been okay through it all." Danielle said.

Sarah looked confused for a moment, "Who's Genevieve?"

"The baby we're looking after. Rebecca's got her." Danielle said.

"Aww..." Sarah smiled, "Hey, we should have a sleepover! Me, you, and Clementine."

"I... I don't know... I'd like to, but... I'd got to see what Clem thinks and Genevieve..." Danielle said.

"Okay." Sarah nodded. "It'll be fun. We could paint each other's nails and tell funny stories, and stuff!"

Danielle really wanted to do the sleep over. She knew that she would have a blast, but she kept thinking that Clementine would tell her no. The two girls heard a door open from upstairs. It was followed by a few footsteps heading down them.

The girls both turned to see Clementine. The girl was dressed in the clothes Sarah had provided for her, her hat was in her hand and her hair looked damp.

"How they fit?" Sarah asked.

"Okay, for the most part." Clementine said however, she had a frown on her face and she was holding onto her jeans. The sweatshirt was a tad big on her, but not overly huge. "The jeans don't fit." Clementine said. "Do you happen to have a smaller pair?"

Sarah shook her head and she said, "That's the smallest I got. I didn't know you were four years younger than me."

"So, you're fifteen then?" Clementine asked.

Sarah gave a nod.

"How was the water?" Danielle asked her friend.

"Very good. It's warm." Clementine said. "Towels and washcloths are in the closet in the bathroom.

"Okay." Danielle said, "I guess I'll go get washed up." She handed Flopsie to Clementine, "Take care of Flopsie, okay?"

"Okay." Clementine said with a smile. The younger girl smiled back before she scampered up the stairs.

"You know... I might have something that would fit, but you won't like it... unless you're a girly-girl." Sarah said.

"I used to be." The child admitted, "And to be honest, I'd rather have something that fits..." She didn't want her pants falling down afterall.

"Okay. Come with me. I should have something that fits you." Sarah said. "They walked up the stairs and Sarah went into the drawer to find something else for Clementine to wear.

Clementine sat patiently, looking awkwardly at the stuffed animal in her hands. It had been so long since she played with a toy, sure she'd held Flopsie a few times, but she felt strange holding the rabbit now, like if someone saw her they'd think she was a child.

"...Okay... I finally found it." Sarah said. She placed a dress on the bed along with a pair of tights.

Clementine examined the outfit for a moment. "Its... nice..."

"Yeah... it'll only be temporary until I can clean up your clothes." Sarah said. "Speaking of which... is that it?" She gestured to the pile in the corner.

Yeah, we don't have a lot of clothes. Can't hold onto the old ones. Whatever I grew out of went to Dani." Clementine explained with a shrug.

Sarah chuckled a bit. "Yeah... I don't know if I should tell you this, but... she's a tad bit jealous that she hasn't hit many growth spurts yet while you... well... You've probably hit a lot."

"Yeah, I used to be a lot smaller." Clementine smirked, "Maybe she'll catch up... one day."

Sarah smiled. "Yeah... that's what I told her. Though... honestly, I don't think she'll grow much. Anyway... I'd better give you some privacy to change. I'll wash your clothes and set them out to dry... though you can keep the sweatshirt. I don't want you to freeze." Sarah said.

"Being small isn't too bad, you can fit into a lot of places other people can't." Clementine pointed out. "Thanks for the clothes, Sarah."

"Of course." Sarah said. She walked over and picked up the pile of clothes and headed out of the room.

Clementine waited until she heard the door, shut before changing into the outfit provided.

"Much better..." Clementine said as she looked down to the dress and tights.

It had been a while since she'd worn a dress, and to be honest she missed it a bit.

It made her feel good. She heard the door open and saw Danielle peak her head in. "Clem..." Danielle said.

"Hey, Dani. Everything okay?" Clementine asked.

"Umm... kind of." Danielle said. "I... Sarah left me some clothes, but I don't think they fit."

"Oh... Come in, we'll figure something out." Clementine said.

Danielle nodded. She walked inside. She wore a yellow hooded sweatshirt that was big enough on her to act as a dress, a pair black tights, and a pair of black flats. She actually looked okay. The sweatshirt seemed to be purposefully big enough for her to wear as a dress.

Clementine sighed, "I think you're alright, Dani. You look fine." Sure, it was big, but it wasn't exactly falling off, and at least she'd be warm.

"Okay... at least it's warm and comfy... Can I get Flopsie back?" Danielle said as she looked back up to her friend.

Clementine nodded and handed the bunny over.

"Thanks." Danielle said as she accepted her rabbit.

"We should go check on Gen..." Clementine suggested.

"Yeah... she probably misses us." Danielle said. "But she is with that Rebecca woman so she's probably okay."

"I know... I just... I just have to make sure." Clementine replied.

Danielle nodded and the two girls left the room. They walked down the hallway in search of Rebecca and the infant.

"There you go," Came Rebecca's voice. "You're sleepy, huh?"

Clementine and Danielle went to the door and they silently entered. They saw Rebecca cradling Genevieve while she fed her a bottle. The toddler's eyes appeared to be closing.

Rebecca looked up at the two girls and offered them a smile.

Clementine smiled back. She was relieved to see that Genevieve was still doing alright. She walked out of the room along with Danielle and they went back to Sarah's room.

"Well, now what?" Danielle asked, taking a seat on the bed.

"I... don't know..." Clementine said.


	21. Chapter 21

_**Thanks to WalkingDeadRox and gaara king of the sand for your help.**_

* * *

"This cabin is pretty nice..." Danielle spoke.

"Yeah... it's perfect for Genevieve... We should stay and let her grow up a bit." Clementine said.

"I think she would like that." Danielle replied.

"And you would too... Despite what I said last night... I think you should stay as a kid for a little while." Clementine said.

"What about you?" Danielle asked. "You're still a kid too, you know."

Clementine shook her head. "I can't be a kid... someone's got to be the grown up... and I guess that's me." Clementine said with a frown.

"There's a lot of grown ups here..." Danielle said.

"Yeah but you don't trust them completely, do you? I mean the one that I trust the most is Rebecca... but other than her... Pete, Alvin, and Carlos are really nice but we don't know them that well. Luke's okay, but Nick is just... unreasonable." Clementine said.

"You're right..." Danielle sighed. "But why won't you let me help you?"

Clementine looked down and frowned. She didn't know what else to say. "I don't know... It's like you said last night... I don't think I can ever be a kid again... not after that..."

"Maybe you can just try..." Danielle said gently. She took her friend's hand. "I'm still here."

"I... I know... I haven't been a kid for so long though... I've always just looked after Genevieve and you... to a lesser extent..." Clementine said. "I... I kind of forgotten how to be a kid.

Danielle sighed. "I know. We appreciate it, Clem. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"And I don't even want to think where I would be without you and Genevieve..." Clementine said.

"We don't have to think about that. We'll always be together." Danielle stated.

"Yeah... I hope so... I mean... tomorrow's not a guarantee..." Clementine said.

"Yeah... Let's not think about that." Danielle let go of her hand. "Sarah wants to have a sleepover. What do you think?"

"I... um... I guess that would be a step in the right direction... I do need to start acting like a kid again." Clementine said.

"Great, we should tell Sarah." Danielle smiled.

Clementine nodded and they went out of the room and downstairs.

The second they got downstairs they spotted Nick. The man looked back to the two girls and shot them a glare.

Clementine jumped a bit.

"The fuck you wearing Luke's shirt for?" Nick spat at Danielle.

"I...I... Sarah gave it to me..." Danielle squeaked.

"Bullshit... Now, you're stealing from us!" Nick exclaimed. He got up and approached the girls in a threatening manner. Clementine pulled Danielle behind her to protect her.

"Nick!" Luke's voice was heard. He ran over and got between Nick and the girls.

"What, Luke?!" Nick snapped. "Do you not see what's going on here?"

"Actually... I don't. I just see you yelling and losing your shit on a couple of little girls... You're damn lucky that your screaming didn't wake the baby. Rebecca would have been furious with you." Luke said. "Now... tell me what's going on here."

"Those little brats are stealing from us!" Nick exclaimed, "Look at what she's wearing!"

Luke looked to Danielle with a confused stare. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He looked back to Nick and he said, "Oh right... Sarah asked me if she could borrow one of my sweatshirts for the younger girl. It's only till their clothes can dry."

"Whatever..." Nick huffed. "Just... When are they leaving? Her arm's been fixed, why are they still here?"

"Whoa, whoa... calm down. It's going to take her a couple of days to heal up... and I ain't exactly willing to kick out a couple of kids and a baby." Luke said. "Hell... the way I see it... I think they should just stay as a part of our group. Sarah would love the company, and it'd be nice if Rebecca's baby had a playmate."

"You realized that just gives us more mouths to feed?" Nick grumbled.

"So?" Luke asked. "Listen, we are in a good spot right now... There are people who would commit mass murder to get this cabin... We'll just make more runs... It's no big deal."

Nick rolled his eyes, "What are we, a fucking orphanage?"

"We're a group, Nick. But if you want to think of us as an orphanage, then fine. We're an orphanage." Luke said.

"Last time we let someone in...it didn't... end well..." Nick sighed, "But fine... You wanna pick up stray kittens off the street, be my guest. I want nothing to do with that." Nick huffed then turned and stormed from the room.

"Nick..." Luke said. He sighed and he looked to the two girls. "You'll have to excuse him... Last time we tried to help someone... it... didn't end too well."

Clementine gave a nod, still staying protectively in front of Danielle.

Danielle peaked out and she said, "Thanks... for calming him down… and for the sweatshirt."

"Don't mention it." Luke replied. "Look, no one's going to hurt you. Nick's just...got a temper."

"Yeah... I've only met one other person who's had a worse temper than him." Danielle said. Nick reminded her of Cliff, but Cliff had Nick completely outclassed when it came to temper tantrums.

"I guess you understand then..." Luke said.

"Yeah... kind of..." Danielle said.

"He'll get over it, I promise." Luke reassured the girls before looking to Clementine. "You still playing the quiet game?"

Clementine looked to Luke. She still couldn't talk to him. He may have defended her, but she still didn't know much about him.

"I hate to break it to you, kid, but I'm an expert at talking to girls who don't want to talk to me." Luke chuckled.

"You weren't very popular in school, were you?" Danielle said with a smirk.

Luke looked to the child, "What makes you say that?"

"You did... You said that you were an expert at talking to girls who didn't want to talk to you." Danielle said. She giggled a bit at his expression.

Luke pouted before hearing another tiny giggle. He looked to the source and was surprised.

It was Clementine.

"Well how about that... I got you to do something other than stare at me..." Luke said with a smirk.

Clementine looked away. While Danielle smiled, she was glad to hear her friend laughing.

"You can hide it all you like... I consider that a victory for me." Luke said.

"We were looking for Sarah, have you seen her?" Danielle asked.

"Yeah... she's finishing up hanging your clothes." Luke said.

As if on cue, Sarah walked back in. "Hey Luke." Sarah said. "Thanks for keeping them company."

"Yep." Luke said, "Next time we talk I'll be sure to get more than a giggle."

"Yeah... maybe in time, she'll talk." Sarah said.

Luke smiled and he walked into the kitchen.

Sarah looked back to Danielle and she smirked. "I knew you would look cute in that." Sarah said.

Danielle looked to the sweater and smiled, "Thanks."

"So... is it a go? Are we going to have a sleepover tonight?" Sarah asked Clementine.

"Yeah..." Clementine smiled, "As long as Rebecca's okay with Gen... She gets fussy some nights."

"That's awesome... my gosh... I'm so excited." Sarah said. "You no idea how boring it gets in here sometimes."

"Me too." Danielle admit. "It's going to be really fun."

Rebecca came down and the three girls looked to her. "Hey... Genevieve's napping at the moment. What was all the fuss down here? It sounded like Nick. I thought he was going to wake her."

Clementine sighed, "He… He doesn't want us here."

Rebecca released an irritated sigh. "Well, he's going to have to get used to it. I will not kick out a couple of kids and a baby..."

"Luke said the same thing." Danielle said.

"Rebecca... thanks for looking after Genevieve. I know I'm asking a lot, but... could you keep watching her. I promise that I'll take over tomorrow. I... I was... We were wanting to do a sleepover..." Clementine said with nervousness in her voice.

"You're a good little mommy, huh?" Rebecca smiled, "You don't have to worry, sweetie. You girls have fun. Genevieve will be fine."

"Thank you, Rebecca..." Clementine said with a sigh of relief.

"Well, that's settled." Sarah smiled.

"Yeah... tonight should be fun." Danielle said.

"Yeah." Sarah agreed, "What do you wanna do until tonight?"

"I don't know..." Clementine said.

"Supper will be ready soon." Rebecca said.

"Okay. Thanks..." Danielle said.

"I have a few books, wanna look at them?" Sarah asked the two girls.

"Sure... I like books." Clementine said. She was starting to feel more comfortable.

"Cool." Sarah replied, "Come on. I'll show you." She led the girls upstairs while Rebecca went into the kitchen.

* * *

When Molly stumbled upon a group of people at a small campsite, the last thing she wanted to do was ask the strangers for help. They didn't appear to be the most friendly bunch, but Molly didn't exactly feel threatened by them either. If worse came to worse, she and Hilda could take them out.

Despite her hesitation, she knew she had to get help if Omid had a chance at survival.

Molly slowly approached the group. They were well armed and Molly was sure they would have supplies on them.

"Who the fuck are you?" One of them hissed, jumping to his feet and aiming a gun in her direction.

"I… I don't want any trouble…" Molly said, raising her hands in a nonthreatening manner. She made sure to keep her guard up, just in case she had to act fast.

"Troy, calm down." Another voice said. "Quit waving that gun around before you shoot your damn foot off."

"But Bill-"

"I said, calm down." The man, Bill repeated.

Troy sighed and lowered the gun.

"Sorry about him. He can be a little, aggressive." Bill said. "So, who are you? You got a lot of guts coming over to a group of strangers like this."

Molly was hesitant to answer that question. "My… My name's Molly. I'm just… I need some help."

"And you thought if you just asked nicely we'd help you? You must be a trusting person." Bill said.

"I wouldn't exactly say that. More like… I have limited options." Molly huffed. "Look, I… I get it… Everyone's on edge lately…"

"Of course. You never know what to expect." Bill replied. "You said you don't want trouble. So what exactly is it that you want?"

"I'm… looking for supplies. One of my group is injured." Molly admits.

"How so?" Bill asked.

"We were attacked…. He got shot." Molly answered honestly.

"Attacked by who?" A woman with red hair gasped.

"I don't know… I'm assuming they were bandits…" Molly said.

"How is that our problem?" Troy scoffed.

"It's not… And I'm not trying to make it your problem. I'm not asking for much." Molly said.

"Why the hell should we help you?" Troy asked.

"Because… It could prevent another human being from dying." Molly replied.

"People die all the time. That's how the world works. It's how it should be, the weak don't have a place in this world. A stranger losing their lives won't affect me." Bill said.

"Look, I just… I need something to stitch the wound with. After that, I'm gone, I won't bother you again." Molly said.

"What's in it for us?" Bill asked.

"I don't got much to offer." Molly said.

"Then you might as well keep searching." Troy grumbled.

"Troy, enough." Bill said. "Actually… There is something you can do."

Molly looked to him. "What is that?"

"We've out looking for our people. Seven of them to be exact. They've been gone a long while, and I'm worried they might of gotten lost." Bill said.

Molly furrowed her brows at that. "Really?"

Bill gave a nod. "Maybe you can help us find them."

* * *

"So what kind of books do you like?" Sarah asked the two younger girls.

"Hmm... Anything that doesn't have to do with horror. I don't like scary books." Clementine said.

"How about a science fiction?" Sarah asked, "I got one book called the Guurglers. It's so cool."

"What's it about?" Danielle asked.

"It's about trans-dimensional body snatchers." Sarah said.

"That's cool." Clementine said.

"Yeah... can we do that in real life? Clem... you and I are switching places." Danielle said with a smile.

Clementine giggled, "That would be interesting."

"But wouldn't that mean that you would have to give up Flopsie since Clem doesn't carry her around?" Sarah said.

Danielle's eyes widened and she looked back to her plush toy. "I changed my mind." Danielle said.

"What kind of books do you like, Dani?" Sarah asked.

Danielle thought for a moment and she said, "Comedy... but I also like adventure and mystery...

"I like comedy too." Sarah said. "I just like books in general."

"Yeah... as long as they aren't violent or scary..." Danielle said.

"Don't worry, I don't have any scary books." Sarah said.

"That's good." Danielle said. The two younger girls began looking through the bookshelf.

"What's it like out there... I mean, I know it's bad...but is it really bad?" Sarah asked.

"It's really bad." Clementine said. "You definitely don't want to know."

"Oh..." Sarah paused, "Did something bad happen...?"

"Yeah..." Clementine said.

"What happened?" Sarah asked. "If you don't mind me asking…"

Danielle paused from her book searching, "A lot of bad things have happened..."

This seemed to confuse Sarah even more, "Like what?"

"Umm... There's a lot of crazy people out there." Clementine said.

"Oh... Like Carver?" Sarah suddenly asked.

"…Who's Carver?" Clementine said.

"He's a really mean man. He was the leader at this place called Howes." Sarah explained. "He hurts a lot of people, so we left... He's crazy..."

"Yeah, that sounds about right..." Danielle said.

"…Has he ever hurt you, Sarah?" Clementine asked.

Sarah shook her head, "No. But he got angry a lot, so it scared me. My dad says he's dangerous. And everyone's scared that he might be looking for us."

"That's understandable." Clementine said. She remembered feeling on edge after Molly helped her and Danielle escape the bandits.

Danielle nodded in agreement.

"Girls, time for dinner." Carlos said from the doorway.

"Let's go eat!" Sarah said.

"Yeah." Danielle said. The three girls walked out of the room and headed downstairs.

Sarah, Clementine, and Danielle entered the kitchen to see the cabin members around the table. They were already eating.

As the girls took a step to the table, Nick looked to Clementine and Danielle with a glare.

Clementine flinched back, and looked away. Danielle was deciding she didn't like Nick very much.

"Will you relax already... Sheesh." Luke said.

"Not a chance." Nick said.

"Nick, come on, man. They're just little kids." Alvin sighed.

"So what?" Nick inquired.

"So, they're going to be staying with us for a while. So lose the attitude." Rebecca said with a scolding tone.

"Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it." Nick scoffed. "I don't have to be nice to them either."

"You're being a bully." Sarah said. "Clem and Dani are my friends."

"You just met them. They're not your friends." Nick replied.

"Yeah they are. I like them." Sarah said,

"Nick, you're going to have to face the facts that you're the only one who doesn't like them." Pete said.

Nick ignored him and just continued eating.

Danielle and Clementine decided that they had to ignore him and eat at the table.

Luke offered the girls a reassuring smile, "Don't worry about it, girls."

The girls nodded and they began to eat the soup that was in front of them.

"We're having a sleepover tonight." Sarah said to Carlos. "It'll be me, Clem, and Dani."

"Sounds fun, sweetie." Carlos said.

Nick looked to the girls, specifically Clementine and Danielle. "Try to keep it down, will ya? Some of us actually want to sleep tonight."

"We will..." Sarah said. "We're not going to stay up that late... well maybe late enough for you to fall asleep so we can draw on your face." She had a mischievous smile on her lips.

Pete chuckled and he said, "Please tell me you're serious. I would love to hear his high-pitched scream again."

"That's the best kind of entertainment these days." Luke said with a smirk.

"Don't even think about it." Nick smirked, "If you draw on my face, you're going to wake up to a bucket of cold water."

"It'll be worth it." Sarah said. "Hearing that high-pitched scream will make my day."

"Why do y'all keep saying that?" Nick rolled his eyes. "I don't got a high-pitched scream."

As soon as he said those words, the whole group excluding Clementine and Danielle laughed.

Carlos coughed a bit before he said, "Not when we're eating, Nick." Before he started to chuckle.

Nick let out a sigh, "Sure, laugh all you want."

The laughing soon subsided and Pete cleared his voice. "Well, Nick and I are going to go down and catch a couple brookies for dinner tomorrow night."

"Sounds good." Luke nodded.

"I'll keep a look out while you're gone." Luke said.

"I guess that leaves Rebecca, Alvin, and I with the norm." Carlos said.

"Be careful." Sarah said.

"Yup... shouldn't be too different around here except now you have to kids and a baby to look after." Pete said.

"Speaking of which, do we have enough supplies for the baby girl they have?" Luke asked.

"We have quite a bit." Rebecca said. "It should last us a while."

"That's good, because I doubt we'd find baby supplies by the river." Pete joked.

"I was going to make a run in the nearby town... It'd take all day, but better to be safe than sorry." Luke said.

"Maybe when we start running low." Rebecca said, "Although you could always go try and find the girls some clothes. I'm sure they could use some more."

"Yeah... you got a good point." Luke said. "Dani will definitely need some clothes since she... can't exactly wear Clem's hand-me-downs yet."

"Yeah." Rebecca nodded.

Danielle sighed and she said, "I'm not going to be little forever."

"Of course... we know that. You'll get taller... by a little bit..." Luke said.

"What do you mean "by a little bit"?" Danielle pouted.

Rebecca smiled a bit. "Honey... I don't think you're going to grow all that much..."

"Sarah was only a tad taller than you when she was your age." Carlos said. "You might not hit many growth spurts like she did." Carlos said.

"Yeah... I didn't start getting tall until I was twelve." Sarah said.

"So... I'll be little forever?" Danielle sounded disappointed.

"Nah... you're fun-size." Luke said.

"Like I said, Dani... you'll hit some growth spurts... Of course, there's nothing wrong with being little. As soon as your grown up, you may have to give up Flopsie..." Sarah said.

"No way!" Danielle huffed, "I'd rather stay fun-sized then."

The adults chuckled a bit. Luke gave Sarah a wink that indicated that she did a good job.

"Dani, if it's any comfort, we like you as you are." Rebecca said.

"Well, that's good." Danielle said, "Even if I do grow up. I'll never give up Flopsie though."

"Haha... sounds good kid." Luke said.

Sarah smiled. "Flopsie is pretty cute. So I can't blame you."

"Yeah. She's all I have left of my mom... so I want to keep her." Danielle said.

"I get that." Luke responded before looking to Clementine. "Hey, miss Giggles, you playing the quiet game again?"

Clementine shrugged. She released a sigh. She had gotten to know the group rather well. Nick was a drama queen, but everyone else seemed fine. She thought about talking to the group. All she would have to do is ignore Nick.

"I said you would talk to me next time. I'm going to hold you to that." Luke said.

Clementine took a deep breath in and she exhaled.

"Don't pressure her, Luke." Rebecca said.

"Okay..." Clementine finally said.

"Wow... it talks." Nick mumbled.

"That's amazing... good job kid... You know... I just joking about that." Luke said.

"She's talked to me..." Rebecca said. "She has trouble talking to new people that she doesn't trust yet."

Clementine found herself feeling a bit sheepish at the praise.

Danielle smiled at Clementine. She was glad that she was getting comfortable enough to talk to the new group.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Pete asked with a grin.

"It's hard to trust people these days." Clementine said. "I wasn't sure what you were like, but now I know."

"Yeah, I can understand. Must've been hard out there." Pete replied.

"Yeah..." Clementine said with a frown.

"Well, you're safe now." Luke told her.

"Yeah. This is a really nice place." Danielle said. "How'd you find it?"

"We were in the area... Eventually we stumbled upon this place... figured we could settle here for a while." Luke tried to keep his explanation vague, but Sarah chimed in.

"Yeah, back when we were running from Carver." Sarah said.

"Sarah." Carlos said as he shook his head.

"It's alright. We already know about Carver." Danielle said.

"What?" Nick looked up. "I told you they were working for him!"

"Sarah told us about him." Clementine said. She didn't look at Nick since she didn't like him or trust him.

Carlos let out a sigh upon hearing that

"Alright. I guess since you'll be staying with us for a while you should know about Carver." Carlos said.

"Alright." Clementine nodded.

Carlos released a sigh and he said, "Carver is a leader not far from here. He's very dangerous and ruthless. He's probably hunting us right now."

"…Why is he looking for you?" Clementine asked, "What happened?"

Rebecca sighed at this, "Let's just say, he's not too happy that we left."

"So he wants to take you back?" Danielle said.

"That's right." Rebecca replied.

Alvin spoke, "But he won't get the chance to... I kill him before-"

"Alvin..." Rebecca said.

"He's right. It's a safer call to just kill him so he doesn't hurt any of us." Clementine said.

"Clementine..." Luke called, "Don't talk like that."

"Why?" Clementine inquired. "It's the truth. You can't just keep running from him."

"Because you're a little girl..." Luke replied. "Don't worry about it. He hasn't found us yet. I think we're fine."

"For how long?" Clementine asked.

Danielle placed a comforting hand on Clementine's shoulder and she said, "Take it easy, Clem. We're fine right now."

"No... They need to think about that stuff..." Clementine said. "If he shows up and he tries anything... I'll kill him myself."

Danielle shook her head and shoulder said, "You're not strong enough. We're still kids, Clem."

Rebecca frowned and she said, "Sweetie, we'll handle this."

"I'm not a kid, Dani. I've told you that." Clementine huffed before looking to Rebecca. "We'll see."

Rebecca sighed and she said, "How about we have a little talk, Clem. You're not in trouble. This just needs to be private." Rebecca got up from her seat and gestured her to follow.

Clementine silently stood from her seat and followed the woman.

Rebecca went up the stairs and opened the door to Sarah's room. She waited for Clementine to sit down on the bed before she closed the door.

Clementine waited, suddenly feeling nervous.

Rebecca sat down next to the girl, and she said, "I know it hurts to think about it, but you need to tell me what happened. You'll feel better if we talk about it."

"I... I don't want to..." Clementine said. "Nothing happened..."

"It's obvious something did happen. You were completely different at dinner tonight as opposed to earlier when you asked me to look after Genevieve for the evening." Rebecca said as she placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Talk to me. Tell me what happened. I'm your friend, Clementine."

Clementine bit her lip, hard enough to draw blood. She was quiet for a while before stammering. "T-These... These guys... They... did s-stuff to Dani and I..." Tears were brimming her eyes at this point, but the girl tried her best to hold them back. "Bad stuff... It hurt..." Her speech was broken, but she was sure Rebecca was getting the point.

"Aww... I'm sorry honey. I definitely know what happened now." She hugged Clementine to comfort her.

That was all it took for tears to start falling. Clementine cried in the woman's embrace, tears she had held back for so long.

"I'm here, sweetie. Just let it all out." Rebecca said as she rubbed circles on the child's back.

The sound of the door opening didn't deter the child from sobbing in Rebecca's arms.

"I came to check-" Danielle stopped, rushing over to her friend. "What's wrong? Is she okay?"

"She's fine. I talked to her about what happened. She told me enough." Rebecca said.

"Oh..." Danielle responded. "Clem... Do you want to hold Flopsie?"

Danielle was a bit surprise when her friend gave a tiny nod. Danielle smiled and she gave her toy to Clementine.

"Thank you." Clementine squeaked.

"It's okay, sweetie." Rebecca said to the girl.

Several minutes passed by with Rebecca and Danielle comforting Clementine. Her tears finally subsided. It felt like a heavy weight was off her shoulders.

"Feeling better?" Rebecca asked the girl.

"Yeah... Thanks..." Clementine mumbled.

"You can come talk to me anytime. This is something you need help with. It's not something you do on your own. Rebecca said.

"And you can hold Flopsie anytime you need to." Danielle added.

"Thank you." Clementine said. "You both really helped me."

"You want to finish up dinner?" Rebecca asked.

Clementine shook her head, she didn't have much of an appetite anymore.

"You going to be okay?" Rebecca asked as she rubbed the child's back in a comforting manner.

"Mm-hm." Was the quiet reply. The crying had tired the child out. Today had just been plain exhausting.

"I want to have the sleepover... but I'm really tired now." Clementine said.

"That's okay..." Danielle said. "We won't draw on your face if you fall asleep first. You can sleep with Flopsie if you want..."

"I don't want to keep her from you, but thanks." Clementine said and she gave Flopsie back Danielle.

"I guess we need to get you some toys." Rebecca said to Clementine.

"She says toys are for little kids." Danielle said.

"B-Because they are…" Clementine said.

Rebecca sighed at that. "Well, you're both little kids. Sweetie, you need to start acting like a kid again."

Clementine sighed, "It's not that simple."

Rebecca sighed and she said, "Maybe not, but you have to try."

"I guess... I can try." Clementine said with a shrug. "But what about Gen and Dani? I'm the oldest so I'm supposed to look after them."

"We can look after them. It doesn't always have to be all on you. In fact, we'll look after you too." Rebecca said.

"P-Promise?" Clementine knew she probably sounded like a little kid, but she didn't care.

"I promise." Rebecca said as she hugged the girl.

"Okay..." The child said.

* * *

 _ **Hello, I figured I'd leave a note to clear us confusion. All the chapters are still here, I just did some revising with old chapters. I also merged some chapters together for example, if you read chapter one, the old 2nd chapter has just been added to the document. I didn't feel like deleting the whole story to revise, so I did it this way instead.**_

 _ **This is the newest chapter.**_

 _ **Thank you all for reading.**_


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